Forbidden Fruit - Herobrine and Steve
by SteveBrine
Summary: This story is based around Herobrine x Steve. Their love is a slow but sure progression throughout the story, resulting in the two of them finally getting together in secret to avoid getting caught by Notch or any other player for that matter. Who would support a demon and human's love for one another? Their love is strictly forbidden in Minecraftia's universe.
1. Chapter 1

Forbidden Fruit

Prologue ~ 10 years ago. 2009.

There was a time when everything was simple and quiet. The tree leaves occasionally rustled and the sheep hooves patted across the green grass, but that was it. There were no wolves barking, or ocelots meowing, or portals calling for players to come into. There was only one dimension, one place. The Overworld. Alpha.

There were only three players in these peaceful days, being Notch, the creator, Brine, the creator's campaign, and Steve, the Overworld's adventurer and protector.

All three of the players didn't interact, for Steve didn't even know of the other player's existence...he simply thought that the glowstone towers and redstone torch trails he stumbled across were part of the Overworld's mysterious design. Notch the creator, on the other hand, watched over Steve endlessly, studying his creation in sheer glee and pride. Brine, unfortunately, went through a series of...complications with Notch and they ended up...splitting apart, not ever wanting to see each other again. Even though this tragic, depressing event took place, the newly named Herobrine found happiness once more in tricking the poor player Steve without him noticing, at first, that is. As the years went on, Steve and Notch started to meet regularly and collaborate, discussing the future, as well as the past. Steve was finally informed about Herobrine in their conversations of the past.

As the years passed by, the Overworld remained, surviving through both heaven and hell in the Worlds. The rise of Entity303, the spawning of Alex, the confinement of Null, the Megawalls Wars, even the destruction of Herobrine...but will the Overworld survive what lies ahead? Will Minecraftia change forever? Will the Underworld and the Overworld become one?

What will happen to Steve when he realizes that Herobrine is following him?

It isn't certain whether the tellings and prophecies are true, but there is one thing that is certain.

Change in Minecraftia is constant.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Attempting Collaboration with an Administrator

Steve's life has always been full of action, mystery, and adventure. He lived with the wind and lighting whirling around him, the cries of the monsters and villagers in the far distance, the feeling of a smooth, powerful diamond sword in his clenched hand...he just lived in that way. That was his job after all. To protect the Overworld and adventure.

There are times, however, when adventurers need to rest and empty their thoughts, extending their arms into warm water while basking in the sun. This, was Steve's favorite part about community servers. The scenery and sacredness.

Currently the player Steve from the Alpha days was sitting in a warm lake, surrounded by many other players who lay on the hot sand, chatting for ages about each other and the drama in Minecraftia, of course. Steve liked to eavesdrop on their conversations, curious on how other players were feeling and what they were doing with their lives...it made him happy to be around other players, for he used to be the only one who existed long ago in the Overworld.

"Steve! This guy gave me some salmon, want some?" An excited voice shouted from behind him.

"Ah, okay! Bring it here, maybe?" Steve cheerfully hollered back to his best friend and wonderful teammate, Alex from Beta.

Steve's gentle eyes watched Alex grab her salmon from a handsome player who stood over by the tropical food shop, smiling at her coolly. Steve didn't feel jealous when he saw the boy smile at his teammate, instead he felt nervous that she'd leave his side and alliance for the boy's.

Alex sprinted back to Steve and sat beside him in the warm water, leaning against his side as she handed him a cooked, crisp salmon. Steve thanked her and quickly bit into the skin of the fish. He personally preferred the old meats such as beef and porkchop, but his immense, never ending hunger allowed him to eat just about anything he came across in the Overworld without complaining much.

"You're looking tan." Alex muttered through her fish and flashed him one of her devilish but cute looking smiles. "I saw some girls looking at you, I bet they're super duper jealous I'm sitting right here next to youuu." She said and gave his side a rough bump to show her way of affection.

Steve shook his head disapprovingly and smiled, making his friend giggle and poke his shoulder teasingly. Steve couldn't ever see himself falling in love. In all of his futures he's dreamt about and even prophesied about, he never saw himself with anyone. Never. Instead he sees something different in his future, something unexpected and odd. He sees himself flirting and teasing with another, but never allowing himself to be taken under their wing and loved immensely.

"I'm sure they're just looking at the waves in the water, or maybe their own reflections." Steve replied to Alex dismissively.

Alex rolled her bright, lively green eyes and gave him a huff. "Whatever, Steve. Not my problem if you never get a girlfriend because you don't even try."

"I'm fine, Alex. I'm not lonely." Steve quickly responded to her comment to cover up the truth. He looked at her with a small, reassuring smile, but on the inside he was lonely. Steve has never known what he is lonely for, but he is always lonely for some unknown reason to his mind.

"So," Alex sighed while taking the last bite of her fish, "I was thinking that maybe after this we could pay the administrator a visit. You said that you wanted to talk with him about the server watchers and rules, right?"

Steve nodded, swallowing a bite of fish. "I need to discuss with him the players who are helping watch this server. They are doing poorly at their job and need to be trained better. I have seen...one?...no two...three hackers! I saw all of them just today! This beautiful server cannot have hackers slipping from their grasp so easily like that!" Steve exclaimed, looking into Alex's eyes, seeking her agreement.

Alex studied Steve's face and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yep! No one needs those pesky hackers, especially not in this place."

The player from Alpha sighed and swished water over his bent knees in the warm lake. He wished he could get rid of hacking forever...he wished it never existed or had come into existence. Ever since Entity303 came into existence years ago in the Beta days, hacking has become extremely popular among the younger players. They often try to mimic the Entity303 or Null, using the old legends of Minecraftia to try to create their own. Most of the hackers nowadays are luckily not as strong as how Entity303 or Null had been. Instead they tend to do little things and little griefs that don't cause too much damage to the Overworld. Steve is thankful that they aren't too powerful, but he still doesn't agree with what they're doing.

"Have you met with the administrator before? Do you know his name?" Alex questioned and tipped her head.

"I haven't met him before, but I have seen his picture online and I know his name."

"What is his name?" Alex asked and giggled. "Is it Henry or Bob or something?"

Steve gave her a playful smile. "No, no, his name is a little more dignified. His name is Jorgensen."

"Hmph." Alex huffed and flickered her eyes away, looking disappointed. Her reaction only made Steve smile more in amusement. Alex was always the type of player who loved to make fun of others and tease them but love them at the same time. She was a little more war-like and feisty compared to Steve, but she had a loving side to her as well that took care of others and pampered them, which is what she occasionally does to Steve when he gets hurt.

"Maybe we should head up to the main building now and go meet him, he does know that I'll be seeing him today, he might be waiting for me right now." Steve said and slowly stood up, letting the water roll off of his dark blue swim shorts. Alex hopped out of the water and leaped to his side immediately, grabbing her shirt and pulling it over her bikini.

"Okay. Let's do it." She said and clapped her hands together.

So Alex and Steve walked around the main spawn point in the city of the server, using maps and papers to try to scout out the easiest way to get to the office. They both suspected that it would be a heavily protected place with little to almost no access allowed. They tried asking a few players if they knew how to warp to the building, but none knew of the command to. Some pointed out the place the building was in on Steve's map, but it looked very hard to get to because of the heavy security surrounding the building.

"UGHHH. It would've been NICE if he had told you how to even GET INTO his office!" Alex groaned and slumped against Steve's shoulder dramatically, rolling her eyes. "We're NEVER going to find him!"

"Oh don't say that! I'm sure there's just a pathway we haven't noticed yet..." Steve mumbled and bit at his lower lip in doubt. The server was so large and packed full of so many players that it made finding a specific person nearly impossible.

Steve tried a few more warps and looked at a few more maps, but turned up with no luck once more. He was ready to call it quits and just go back home with Alex, but suddenly a strong hand was placed on his shoulder.

"You are Steve, aren't you? The administrator is expecting you." A male player spoke from behind Steve, his voice full of loyalty and obedience. Steve thought of him to be some type of guard or co-manager, or maybe a watcher of the server based off of his colors and clothing. The player's clothing was black and gray with an outer layer of black cloth draping over his shoulders. The only bright color on his body was reflected off of the white and black bracelets on his wrists that glinted in the sunlight.

Steve looked at him hopefully and nudged Alex so she turned to see him as well. "Yes! That is me. I have been looking for Jorgensen for the last few ticks but we can't find any way to get to the administrator building!"

The ominous looking player hummed, his gray eyes piercing through Steve's face. "Yes, it is best that way. Now we know that we have been doing our job well."

"Yes, well, I guess it's good because then those little hackers can't fly over to you, huh?" Steve said and chuckled.

The dark player gave him a dangerous look and suddenly wrapped his large arms around both Steve and Alex, holding them tightly. "Speaking of hackers..." he murmured, his stern voice making Steve feel a little uneasy.

Alex wiggled around in his grasp and hollered, "Let me go! What are you doing?! Put me down!"

The dark player didn't reply, instead little ender specks started surrounding them. Steve knew what they meant, they were going to teleport momentarily. He saw Alex still struggling out of the corner of his eye when the purple colors washed over his vision, teleporting him to a new place.

Their teleporter was already a few blocks ahead of them when Alex and Steve arrived at the new place, standing on some quartz stair steps. "Come." He beckoned and started walking up the large staircase. Alex grumbled beside Steve and furrowed her eyebrows defiantly.

"It would've been nicer if he didn't just grab us like that..." She whispered madly and grabbed Steve's hand, walking with him up the staircase. Steve understood her anger and agreed with it inside him, but his thoughts were washed away when he took in his surroundings. The building they were in was absolutely gorgeous. There were huge windows full of different colors of glass and glowstone lamps. The building was made of many different types of stone, all in patterns and designs. Steve couldn't believe how enormous it was too, the ceiling was practically one hundred blocks above his head.

The quartz staircase they walked on led the two adventurers to a large platform with red carpet covering the stone floor. There was a huge, stone throne of some sort and a large, dark wooden table in front of it. The dark player was leaning against the table next to Jorgensen, the server administrator. Steve released Alex's hand and walked over to the table quickly, trying to greet the admin.

Steve noticed how stressed the administrator looked when he got closer though. Jorgensen was scattering papers and maps all over the large table, lifting each of them to his eye before throwing them back to the table. The administrator looked like a...nervous wreck. His lime green eyes were frantic and his blonde, normally wavy hair was plastered to his head and messy looking. What was causing the administrator to be so messy looking? What was going on?

"Er...administrator Jorgensen? It's me, Steve. I came here to talk? Um..is it a bad time for you?" Steve stammered, still shocked in seeing Jorgensen look this way.

Jorgensen looked up quickly from his papers and his beady eyes spotted Steve, lighting up in surprise, or something like that.

"Steve! Oh Steve I'm so glad you came!" Jorgensen cried out and sprinted towards Steve with outstretched arms. Steve gave him a friendly smile, trying not to look awkward and confused. The administrator returned the smile and put an arm around Steve's back, leading him over to the table quickly. "Come, come. I need to tell you many things before we run out of time. This is urgent, Steve."

"Jorgensen, I scheduled this meeting so I could talk to you about your server and the hackers that are-"

"HACKERS! YES! Hackers, Steve! That is what I want to talk about too! Now just be quiet and listen, I don't have much time, you don't either." Jorgensen ranted quickly and started rampaging through the maps and papers on the table.

Alex had started to slowly make her way towards the table as well, her curious eyes locked on the papers that filled the table top. Steve sighed and shook his head, not understanding any of this. He thought that whatever Jorgensen was trying to tell him was nonsense and not important to him. It was probably just showing Steve that his rate of capturing hackers had gone up this month. It probably wasn't worth his time...

"STEVE! Look!" Jorgensen cried, holding up one of the papers and practically shoving it in Steve's face. The paper had a player on it with white eyes and there was a huge, bold, red circle surrounding the player furiously, it was clear that whoever made the circle was maddened.

"Jorgensen, I don't understand. Please explain what is going on!" Steve hollered, feeling extremely frustrated at it all.

"What is this? Why do you look so crazy?" Alex chimed in, staring at the administrator with an angry gleam in her eyes. "We don't want to hear about nonsense or something that wastes our time. So, if this is actually worth our visit, then start explaining."

"He is here! There is an entity that was captured here! On our grounds! It is Him!" The administrator hollered, shoving the paper into Steve's face more, to which Steve batted it away.

"I don't see anything! I don't know who that is!" The player from Alpha said quickly, scrunching his eyes as the admin flailed the paper in front of him.

Jorgensen finally lowered the paper and threw it back into the pile of papers on the table, almost looking pouty. Steve was even more confused. Who was this player? This entity? "Flintshadow, hand me the paper and the map in front of you." Jorgensen said, looking up at the dark player standing beside Alex.

"Yes, my admin." Flintshadow responded obediently and grabbed the two works, passing them over to Jorgensen. As soon as Jorgensen got a hold of them, he held them up to Steve so he could see.

"This is the map of spawn, the city of the server. This is where we saw Him. He was there, a little left of spawn with no name tag. It was Him!" Jorgensen cried and furiously pointed to the red circle that was around a dark, blueish blotch of a player in the map. "We didn't believe it at first because he hadn't been seen in years, but then the other workers started running tests on him and we found out that he was an entity with power beyond belief! He could build and destroy wherever he wanted! He had no name tag, it was Him!" Jorgensen ranted and threw Steve a few papers full of code, translations, commands, and server results on them. "Notch said that you HAVE to run! You need to hide! He thinks that he was here looking for you! He thinks that there is something Herobrine is looking for! He thinks that it wasn't a coincidence that Herobrine was on the same server that you are always on! Because Herobrine never goes on servers! The last time he was seen on one was years ago!"

Steve stared at Jorgensen, unable to speak. Only one thing flashed through his mind. Why?

"You can't come on this server anymore, Steve! You aren't safe here! Notch ordered me to tell you that! You have to run! Hide! Hide until Notch figures out why Herobrine is searching for you! Herobrine is coming for you, Steve! HE'S COMING FOR YOU!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Uneasy Notes and Letters in Slumber

Steve's visit with the administrator didn't go as planned, instead it left him with more questions than answers, more reasons he should feel as if he is in danger. The adventurer still didn't understand why Herobrine would be searching for him, it was not like him to do such a thing. The last time Steve had seen the Underworld God was many, many years ago...Steve had almost forgotten about Herobrine's existence.

The sun was setting by the time Alex and Steve left the administrator's building, golden rays of sunshine being cast down on the beautiful stonework engraved in the building's walls. Steve looked at the building thoughtfully, wondering what might happen to it in the future if Herobrine really was stepping foot in the server. Was Jorgensen lying about all of this? Was all of this just fake? Steve decided that he would never truly know until he talked with Notch about all of it...which he will soon.

"I...really don't know what to make of all of this, but be careful for the next few days, Steve, until we get this figured out." Alex said, turning to Steve as they slowly came to a halt.

The sunset hit Steve's face as he gazed into the distance with bright, gentle eyes. He looked relaxed, he looked surprisingly peaceful. His soft voice spoke, "Alex, I am not worried. I am confused, yes, but I am sure that this is nothing big. I will be fine, dear."

The female adventurer sighed and took his hands and hers, making him jolt his head away from the sunset and turn his gaze towards her. "Well, I am worried, Steve. I am very worried that something is wrong."

Steve bit his lower lip and pondered on her words. He really couldn't argue with what she said, for she might be right.

"Let's just get some rest tonight, alright? We can sort this out in the morning and try to reach out to Notch or Jeb." Steve murmured and pulled his hands away from her grasp slowly.

A flash of concern and even frustration passed through Alex's face, her green eyes glaring down at the grass blocks beneath her feet. "Fine...just be careful..." She muttered, giving him a little punch in the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Alex. Everything will be fine." Steve mumbled, giving her a warm smile, although he wasn't convincing himself inside.

Alex gave him one last look before exiting the server, going to one of her own Worlds to sleep in for the night. Steve sighed and exited as well, spawning back into his main World that he's lived in for years. His house was very simple and neat looking, luckily, compared to his other builds. It was made of wooden oak planks and had two stories, Steve's bed being on the second story by his large windows and bookcases. Normally he would read or fight monsters before he tucked himself into his red bed, but tonight he wouldn't. Tonight he just wanted to go to sleep immediately and forget about all of his troubles...

Steve ate a cooked piece of beef downstairs, playing games with himself as he ate in silence. He pretended that Herobrine was watching him through one of his windows right at that very moment. He pretended that Herobrine was too chicken to come inside Steve's house. Steve was never really scared of Herobrine, only intimidated a little, but that was a normal feeling to feel around Herobrine.

The adventurer finished his beef and sat on his stair step for a few moments, entwining his fingers and gazing down at them. He never quite understood his feelings for Herobrine. Nervous? Maybe. Angry? No, not really. Wanting to know more about him? Yes. The adventurer hadn't thought about Herobrine in years though. He only thought about Herobrine back in the Alpha days when Herobrine was more active around him, creating glowstone towers and redstone torch trails in his Worlds.

Steve smiled. Ah, those were the days... The days where only Notch, Herobrine, and myself existed...

Steve walked towards his door to close it, but noticed something lying on the grass blocks in front of his oak door. Steve grew curious and walked outside, seeing that is was a book that lay on the ground. A book? Steve wondered how it got to his house and what writing it held inside it.

Slowly, Steve bent down to grab the mysterious book, eyeing the night sky as he did so, almost expecting something or someone to come out and spook him. Fortunately, something came out of the shadows to grab him. Steve carried the book into his house and shoved his door closed behind him, which squeaked loudly in response.

The old player from Alpha brought the book upstairs with him to his bed, excitement filling him as he snuggled underneath his red blankets, opening the book in eagerness. What could be in it? Did someone write him a secret message? Did Herobrine send him a letter?

Steve was greeted with something he didn't quite expect. There was a long passage in the book that covered about three pages, being written in Notch's handwriting. Steve looked at it in surprise, not expecting Notch to write to him like this, for he never has in the past. The passage read:

To Steve,

I am sure that you are now well aware of the havoc spreading across servers because of Herobrine. It is quite the crisis in Minecraftia right now because of the rumors that supposedly say he is coming after you for some unknown reason. I am sorry, Steve, I do not know if that is true, I do not know his intentions.

Steve, my friend, it is best for you to stay off of servers and stick to your own Worlds. It is important that you isolate yourself from everyone at this time so he cannot find you through your connections with others. Most importantly, do NOT enter the Nether.

I want to meet with you in private as soon as possible, perhaps in my castle? I want to share with you some of the recent things I have heard about Herobrine and his intentions. This is urgent, Steve. I fear for your life and your safety. I do not know what that old miner wants with you and why he is suddenly appearing on popular servers.

I wrote this letter today and I set it in front of your door today. Tomorrow morning I would like to speak with you.

-Notch

Steve blinked a few times, rereading parts of the letter, trying to take in everything Notch had said. It worried him that Notch wrote that he didn't understand what was going on either, he didn't know of Herobrine's intentions...

Steve sighed and closed the book, setting it down on the floor beside his bed. He really didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to believe any of this, it just came up too suddenly and it sounded too crazy.

Slowly, Steve turned around and broke the torch above his head, making his room quite dark and full of shadows. Steve pulled his red blankets over his legs and chest, only allowing his head to be uncovered. He closed his eyes and pushed his cheek into his pillow, squinting, try to shut out all of the thoughts clouding his tired mind. What is going on? I don't know what to think anymore...

Suddenly Steve felt a faint wind on the back of his neck, a cold draft of air that seemed to sweep along his skin for a mere second. He blinked and turned around, looking around his dark house, only to find nothing there that could've caused the cold wind. The miner pushed his nose into his pillow and drew his red blankets over the back of his neck and ears. This was not the first time Steve had experienced that cold, mysterious wind hitting the back of his neck at nighttime. It has happened to him a few times in the past as well and Steve never had an explanation for it occurring. Maybe that is something that...he should talk to Notch about tomorrow morning as well.

Steve finally closed his violet eyes and fell into a restless slumber...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Meeting with The Creator

In the morning sunlight, Steve was already out the door and venturing into the oak and birch forests around his house. He was...doing something referred to as "stress gathering," which is when a player gathers a bunch of materials and kills a bunch of mobs and monsters for no good reason other than being bored or stressed out. He didn't understand quite why he was so nervous about his meeting with Notch, but he knew that he would be thankful for it in the long run.

There was so much they needed to discover together, so many questions that needed to be answered... Steve was desperate to know what exactly was going on between Herobrine and him. And he believed that Notch might be able to help.

After a few hours of hunting around the Overworld, Steve finally decided that it was time he should make his way to Notch's place. It was difficult to get there because of the security, so Steve had to run a few codes and self identification tests so he could be allowed access to Notch's realm. It didn't take the adventurer long though, he was used to running the tests to get into Notch's place, for he's visited Notch so many times in the past.

The moment the realm opened, Steve didn't waste anytime jumping into it, wanting to get to Notch as fast as possible now. What will Notch have to say when he first sees Steve? What will he do? Steve was getting more eager by the second to meet with the creator of Minecraftia once more. Notch was _his_ creator as well, he can't forget that.

Steve spawned in front of Notch's old, first castle he created back in the Alpha days that had the huge, red printed banner attached to the front stone wall. His castles were always quite majestic looking and it made one feel inspired as their eyes fell on the complicated designs engraved in the build. Steve always took a few moments to just stare in front of him and admire the architecture. He wished that he could build things as big and as nice as Notch could...but he's never really been interested in building too much, he prefers mining and exploring much more.

Steve nervously walked up the ancient, stone pathway to Notch's castle, pushing open the singular wooden door slowly. Once Steve was inside, he called out, "Hello? Notch? It's me, Steve!"

His voice bounced off of the huge stone walls of the castle, reverberating off the ceiling and echoing down the seemingly endless hallways. It seemed so...quiet...so dark and empty. _Doesn't Notch get lonely here?_ Steve reckons that he does, but he's never asked Notch about it or why his castle was so _big_. There was a sad, desolate thought Steve once had, in which it might be big because Herobrine once shared it with him and perhaps even built some of the castle in days long, long ago. Steve of course didn't know if this was true, but he strongly believed that it was.

The adventurer walked inside the castle more, deciding to head up a large cobblestone staircase to the upper floor which Notch usually does his work on. The staircase groaned underneath his feet, as if telling Steve how old and untouched it was. The castle smelt of ancient Old Alpha, the air thick with the scent of stone and oak wood. Steve treasured the smell, it made his old memories flood his mind once more.

When Steve reached the top of the cobblestone staircase, Notch was walking towards him, smiling warmly as always. Steve melted when he saw Notch's smile and bunny hopped towards him a bit, embracing him happily.

"Steven..." Notch murmured, his voice soothing and full of wisdom and peace, even at this time.

"Notch...I'm so glad I'm seeing you." Steve spoke emotionally, slowly pulling his arms away from his creator. Notch smiled down at his old friend, his dark brown eyes warm and gentle as they rested upon Steve's face.

"We have much to discuss, Steve, if you may follow me over here." Notch said, whisking his Mojang cape to the side, beckoning for Steve to follow him to his big, oak planked table covered in red carpet. Steve quickly walked to the table, the table in which he recognized in old popular films of Minecraft and developers who talked of change and issue. Steve has sat at this table before, but that was long ago.

Steve sat down on the oak slab that was nearest to the large, stone throne type of object that was placed on one side of the table. Steve watched Notch walk over to the throne and sit in it comfortably, sighing a long sigh that was full of meaning, meaning that Steve didn't quite understand yet. "Oh Steve, what mess have we got to deal with now...am I right?" Notch spoke, chuckling loudly, his eyes shutting in what seemed to be joy of some sort.

Steve looked at the table in confusion after hearing Notch laughing. "Heh...yes...a mess we have to deal with..."

"I'm sorry Steven, this really is no laughing matter. I only find it funny that even after all of these years I still have problems with that old miner." Notch said, sighing as he shifted his weight around in his chair. "Some things never seem to change, am I right?"

"Oh, yes... Yes. Some things never seem to change." Steve stammered, looking down at the table.

Notch turned his head towards Steve, giving his human creation a disappointed look. "Steven, you seem to be taking my words rather seriously. There is no need to be so nervous and _real_ here. We will figure this nonsense out, do not have fear right now."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in a mixed emotion of anger and worry. "Well, I think I have every right to be fearful and nervous! I don't understand why he is trying to find me! I don't know what he's going to do to me when he gets me!" Steve cried, feeling his eyes suddenly glass over, causing his vision to blur through the small tears. There was no denying it. Steve was _terrified_.

Notch studied Steve's face for a long time, making Steve grow embarrassed and try to hide his face from the god. Notch swept forward and held Steve in his ancient, wispy arms, mumbling, "My boy, do not cry. You will be just fine out there, you have all of Minecraftia on your side. I will not let him hurt you."

Steve wept in Notch's arms. They held him so dearly, like a fathers embrace. Steve has always yearned for someone to love and touch him, so Notch's touch practically made him break down.

After a minute of sniffing and snorting the tears, Steve mumbled, "I-I think he already knows w-where I am though... I think he's watching me and j-just waiting for the perfect opportunity to come out and grab me..."

Notch squinted. "Why did you say that, Steve."

Steve and gulped and mumbled, "Sometimes at night I will feel a cold draft of wind on the back of my neck. It'll sweep over my skin and then disappear... There's no explanation for it happening unless it...was caused by a..._thing_."

Notch's arms seemed to tense their hold on Steve. The god then pulled his arms away and sat up straight, his dark brown eyes running all over the walls of his castle in thought. He knew that it was not Herobrine who was causing those cold drafts on Steve. Rather it was an entity. Such as Entity303 or Null. Those two were the only glitched, virus-infected players in Minecraftia, and they were the only ones that could cause cold, powerful winds that rocked through Worlds. Notch had thought that perhaps hackers could create winds of the sort too.

"I do not believe you should worry about those odd winds, Steve. They are not a result of Herobrine's presence in your World. Normally speaking, the winds are caused by entities, glitches, and hackers. Herobrine does indeed emit a cold radiation from his body, but he does not create winds."

Steve suddenly grew very curious of Herobrine's body. He emits a cold radiation? What does it feel like to be standing next to him? Is his overall body temperature cold? Does he not like the Overworld because it's too cold? Is that why he always goes to the Nether?

"I have little to say if there is a hacker traveling around in your World, Steve," Notch spoke, locking his eyes with the human. "But, I will send you off with a weapon you may use to stun hackers and make them un-hackable for a short period time. If you hit Herobrine with this weapon, it will cause him to take damage as well. It may give you time to escape his grasp."

Steve nodded frantically, feeling very relieved that Notch was giving him a powerful weapon. The god's weapons were the best in weapons in the universe of Minecraftia. They could do things that seemed impossible to do.

Notch slowly stood up and swiftly glided towards a stone wall, making it suddenly fall apart, the cobblestone crumbling and disappearing into nothingness. Steve stood up, but didn't dare move towards the secret passage way. He didn't want to invade in Notch's privacy and godly secrets.

When Notch returned out of the darkness of the passage way, he was holding a...stick. It was just an ordinary stick, but...it was _enchanted_. The purple hues flashed on the stick as Notch held it out to Steve, smiling warmly.

"This stick is extremely powerful, Steve. You mustn't use it on anything except for evil-minded players, understand my boy?" Notch said, looking into Steve's eyes intensely, making Steve feel a little nervous about holding the stick in his hand.

"I understand, Notch...I will only use it for its purpose." Steve reassured the god, taking the enchanted stick from the god's hand. He felt how heavy and hot it was, the beautiful enchanted purple swirls swishing around the base of the stick.

Notch sighed. "Very good. I will also send you off with this paper, Steve."

The god picked up a piece of paper that was laying on the table and wrote down the numbers with his quill: 12418

Notch then folded it up and handed it to Steve, saying, "This is a World, Steve. Those numbers will grant you access to the World. I urge you to go there and name the World 'Lava'. Stay on the World for a little while and report back to me if you encounter anything suspicious to the eye. I will teleport the stick to you once you are there."

Steve shook his head in confusion. "Wait, why? Why do I need to go to this World?"

"That World is where that Nether demon often roams. It is a very old World, it has a rather cold, abandoned feeling to it. There are not many trees, but lots of winding rivers and huge, stone mountains. Herobrine roams there because that World was birthed from Alpha. The old miner prefers the older Worlds rather than the newer. Perhaps if you go there, you may find him and be able to hit him with the stick. If you succeed in doing so, he will recognize the stick's power and come to me, leaving you be."

Steve stared down at the numbers on the paper. Dread seemed to flood his body. _He might meet Herobrine. He might stand face to face with the Underworld god. He could die._

Notch gently patted Steve's back, leading him down the stairs of the old castle. "Remember Steve, you are not alone. You have all of Minecraftia on your side."

Steve gulped and nodded, embracing Notch once more. His lips seemed to quiver, he wanted to speak, but he just couldn't. He wanted to tell Notch how scared he was, he wanted to say how much he loved him, but all that came out was a childish whimper.

"I will be right here when you need me, Steve, come back much as you can, I want to know more about these incidents as well. I will come to you once I have learned more as well. I miss you, my wonderful, intelligent child."

Steve's chest swelled with happiness and he whispered, "I miss you too."

Notch took the enchanted stick from Steve's hand. "Go on now, I will teleport the stick to you in the World immediately."

Steve nodded quickly and shut his eyes tightly, pressing his lips together as he exited Notch's World. He quickly set up a new World, filling in the numbers '12418,' for the seed, and 'Lava,' for the name. He spawned into the World, fear pulsing through him. To his right, the purple, enchanted stick lay on the grassy ground. Steve knelt down and clutched the stick to his chest, weeping.

_Why can't I just be normal? Why can't I just be left alone like the other players? I wish I wasn't Steve. I wish I wasn't the first human in all of Minecraft. I wish I hadn't been alive in the Alpha days. I wish I was just a normal player...like all of the other players._

_I wish I wasn't special._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The World

Steve had created a small, oak plank house on the edge of the oak forest and grassland. Inside his base, there was only one furnace, one work bench, two chests, and one red bed. Player Steve had only been on the World for a day, but hell, it felt like an eternity to him. He was constantly looking behind his back, jumping at the smallest of sounds...although there weren't many sounds, the World was disturbingly quiet.

There was a cold, faint type of breeze that always seemed to always waver around the biomes, often making Steve shiver and wish he had a sweatshirt with him. The air was very thick and cool, not hot or making one feel uncomfortably warm at all. The World was rather...nice. The temperature was great and the quietness was relaxing. It enhanced Steve's thoughts.

Steve wasn't doing that much, not compared to his usual activity on other Worlds. On this World, Lava, he often found himself walking around, not fighting monsters, not chopping wood or mining coal, but just walking. Walking and thinking to himself. Or sometimes, walking and _speaking_ to himself. The player from Alpha often muttered under his breath, mumbling things that were hard for others to understand. Years ago, he used to speak to himself so he felt less lonely...but now it's just become a habit for him.

"Herobrine sees me...I see you, Herobrine." Steve mumbled a little bit in paranoia, laughing quietly under his breath.

The youthful adventurer did feel scared, but he also felt very curious about the whole situation. He was on a World that Herobrine liked to live on. He was granted access to a World where Herobrine might be. Notch told him to go on a World that Herobrine inhabits.

This made Steve feel special. No other player ever has this experience. No other player is ever granted access to a very specific World which contains the Underworld God's hauntings. Steve was special, he was experiencing some special. Thinking about it in this type of way made Steve feel less frightened about being on the World. He should think of it as a privilege, a way to experience something that others have not experienced.

Steve stood atop a huge, stone mountain. The air was more breezy and cold up here, making Steve shake a little.

The player from Alpha smiled as he looked over the World, studying the grassland biome, the oak forest, and the sycamore biome out in the distance. He could see almost everything from up here, and it sure was a beautiful sight. There were small, winding rivers snaking their way through the oak forest and settling down below the towering stone mountains. The World was gorgeous. Cold, quiet, ominous, and gorgeous.

The cold breeze rocked through his body once more, making Steve stumble a bit. The sun was slowly starting to set to his left, the sky already turning a lightish pink color. Steve grew a little anxious as he watched the sun descend and decided to make his way home as fast as he could before the monsters started to come out. Steve thought that there might be even more monsters on this World because Herobrine roams around in it.

Steve scurried down the steep slope of the mountain, putting his hands up to the sky and doing a three-step leap off the edge of the stone slope, diving deep into the river water below. The cold water seemed to clear Steve's thoughts and refresh him, brushing along every inch of his body, cleansing him.

He gasped as he surfaced, spitting out some water he had collected in his mouth and stepping up onto the grassy blocks, sprinting towards the start of the oak forest where his house lay.

The sun had already gone under the stone mountains and the sky had turned a dark orange and yellow hue, making Steve sprint even faster, his shoes squelching and shirt flapping around in the cold wind. His house was about a hundred blocks in front of him and he reached his front door in only a matter of seconds. He sighed in relief and closed his oak door, sitting down on the ground happily, panting from his run.

His clothes were soaked and cold, plastered to his body in an uncomfortable way. Normally Steve would take them off and let them dry as he feel asleep, but in this World...Steve thought twice about doing such a thing. _What if he's watching me?_ Steve's face grew hot and he nipped his lower lip. _I can't take my clothes off...he might see me... But, maybe if I just dig a small hole in the ground then I'll be safe and he won't be able to see me._

Steve thought that was the best thing he could do, so he grabbed his stone shovel, flint and steel, pickaxe, and some wood. He quickly dug a 5 by 5 hole in the ground and filled the entrance with cobblestone. It already felt a lot more private in the small hole underground, so he didn't have any side thoughts when he took off his clothes. He placed some wood down and lit the wood with his flint and steel, making them burst into hot flames, the heat dancing along Steve's skin and making him sigh in comfort.

The Alpha player lay on the stone ground for many minutes, letting his clothes dry by the fire as his skin grew warm and relaxed. Steve started to drift in and out of consciousness, the fire making him almost fall asleep. He murmured drowsily, "Oh Herobrinnneee, come and get me. I'm all yours."

He giggled in distortion and closed his pretty violet eyes, rubbing his head shyly. _He better not somehow be watching me. Or I'm going to kill him._ Steve giggled again at his own thoughts.

Steve missed Alex a bit, but he was glad that she wasn't here. He would worry that if she were, she'd become very hostile and senseless, trying to hunt Herobrine down for sport. She'd probably end up getting herself captured or killed. That is why Notch didn't bring her up either in our conversation, he knows that she does not do well around the Underworld God. Perhaps Herobrine does not like her either.

Steve reminded himself that he can survive, he has the stick weapon Notch gave him. He has known Herobrine since the very beginning. They used to roam around in the same Worlds long ago in Alpha. Steve felt as if his survival rates automatically go up around Herobrine because of how they've known each other for so long. Herobrine has never killed Steve in the past, so why would he in the present or the future? For what reason would Herobrine want him to die? Why does Herobrine want to find me and capture me? Doesn't he already know that I'm here!? Why hasn't he came out to capture me yet?

Steve dismissed his thoughts and puffed out a loud breath of air, trying to shake the stress from his body.

The young miner picked up his warm, dry clothes from beside the fire and put them on once more, sighing in comfort at how hot they felt on his body. He put out the fire on the logs and went back up to the floor of his house, quickly throwing himself into his bed, his thoughts disappearing instantly at how cuddly and happy he felt.

Steve felt so warm and so comfortable that he fell asleep within only a few minutes, a small smile formed on his pink lips.

It was a cute smile.

Even He thought so.

_"I-I don't know...I only bathe midday or sometimes at night if I'm alone...not in the morning sunlight!" Steve stammered._

_The demon growled little, his fangs bearing at Steve, making the younger miner squeak and throw his hands over his head._

_"I'm dirty. Wash me, human." The god snarled and yanked Steve's arm forward, making the human's shoulder socket pop at the powerful, unexpected force. Steve cried as the demon slapped his hand onto his muscular, filthy back. Dirt and sweat covered every inch of his skin, making Steve's hand grow wet and sticky with muck._

_Steve grimaced and started rubbing the dirt off of Herobrine's back. He quickly did what Herobrine told him to do so he wouldn't get in trouble. The god's skin was cold and hard, feeling almost like obsidian. Steve splashed it with warm water and continued rubbing the filth off of his tanned skin, still clenching his teeth together in disgust._

_Herobrine's skin started to become cleaner, in fact, all of the muck was gone. His skin was its normal, tanned color, his muscles glistening with water droplets as he breathed in and out. Steve couldn't help but study the god's muscles in curiosity. He wondered how strong the god really was. He must be able to destroy an entire World. His body sure looks like it's capable of doing such destruction._

_The god abruptly turned around and put his large hands on Steve's shoulders, squeezing them a little. Steve looked up at him with large, fearful eyes. Herobrine's face was just a large blur, there were no details on his face. There was nothing except his eyes and his teeth. His teeth were sharp and long, pointing out towards Steve's face, as if trying to bite at his flesh._

_"Turn around. Now I will wash you." The god spoke, his deep, cold voice sending shivers all over Steve's body._

_The human obeyed and turned around, not wanting Herobrine to hurt him or become angry._

_The god suddenly dug his hands into Steve's shoulder muscles by the base of his neck. He pulled at Steve's muscles and pushed his hands into Steve's skin roughly. Steve's breath hitched a little and he reached his hand backwards to grasp Herobrine's arm._

_"Hmm. Now that doesn't feel so bad, does it, Steven?" The god spoke, chuckling, his breath hitting the back of Steve's neck._

_"Mmm." Steve could only hum as the god massaged his shoulders. It did feel good. Steve wasn't used to another player putting their hands on him. He's never felt this before...a massage? That's what it is, right? Well, Steve liked being massaged then. It made him feel nice and loopy._

_Herobrine's legs came up to the sides of Steve's hips, acting like barriers to keep Steve sitting in between his legs. Steve's cheeks and neck grew dark red in embarrassment as Herobrine purposefully pulled Steve backwards so the human was leaning back on his strong chest, his body seeming to sink and melt together with the demon's. Steve didn't quite understand what was going on, but he loved the feeling of it. The feeling of having another body against his...another player's hands on his skin..._

_"You are so easy to tame, Steve." The demon spoke, one of his hands coming up to gently rub Steve's cheek._

_Steve turned his head back to look at Herobrine in confusion. What does that mean?_

_The human was greeted by a particularly handsome face. It seemed as if Herobrine's face had transformed into his real, extremely handsome, manipulative face, not the blurred, messed up face Steve had been seeing before._

_Steve stared back at Herobrine in confusion. There was a small, precisely placed smile engraved on the demon's face._

Steve gasped and blinked opened his wild eyes, his pupils enlarging and scanning the walls of his oak plank house frantically. His hands were holding his red blankets tightly and his legs were crossed in an odd way. Steve panted and gulped, feeling a small droplet of sweat roll down his forehead.

He burst out of bed, throwing his red blankets aside and stomping out his front door, his head hot and confused. His tired, loopy eyes gazed up at the bright moon and he panted, yelling something he couldn't understand.

Steve was confused and only partially awake, solely acting on impulse. His dream caused him to grow nervous, he wanted to run away from his house, but his tired legs couldn't move him forward in the darkness. _What is going on with me? Where am I?_

The human found him laying on the ground, gazing up at the stars, his vision blurring and his head on fire. There was only one thing Steve could recall very well about his surroundings. There were no monsters. Not a single monster in the entire World was present.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

You meet Me, I meet You

That morning, Steve arose from his bed with an awful headache, his entire face drenched in sweat. He groaned in discomfort and flung the blankets off of his body, which had somehow been neatly tucked into his sides.

Steve's pupils shrank in realization and fear. Last night...he had a dream and then woke up, stumbling outside because of his fever and delirium. He never came back inside, he had fainted outside on the ground. There were no monsters.

The miner put his hands in his face and breathed in and out violently. _How did I end up back inside?_

Steve quickly grabbed some cooked beef and gulped it down, mumbling Notch's name and his Realm codes under his breath. He couldn't stay here any longer. He needed to see Notch again. He didn't understand what in the world is going on. Clearly Herobrine is here and messing around with him, but not trying to capture him or hurt him. That doesn't make any sense! Steve thought that if he told Notch everything that had happened so far than maybe he'd have some answers. Steve felt confused, scared, and sick. His head was on fire, his body was wet with sweat and odor. He needed to escape. He needed to take a break right now.

Steve ate one more piece of beef to try to help his headache before he pulled up his World options and hovered his hand above the 'quit game' option.

He was only a split second before pressing the option when he heard a sound that originated fairly close by. Steve snapped his head around in an insane way, panting madly. It was the sound of wood being broken.

Steve dropped down to the ground, sneaking up towards his front door, his heart pounding out of his chest. Curiosity took over him within an instant and he bailed the option to quit the World. _Is it Him? Is Herobrine out there? Is he really right outside my house? Can he...see me? Oh god!_

The curious miner looked out the small window in his door with big, excited eyes. He was greeted with exactly what he wanted to see. Herobrine was standing almost directly outside his door, punching down a...tree with his...fist. Steve tipped his head. He wasn't expecting Herobrine to be doing something like that... Wasn't Herobrine unusually strong? Steve heard that Herobrine could punch a log once and it'd break before him. But this...this was clearly showing Steve that that was not the case. Herobrine took just as long as the normal player to punch down a tree.

The more Steve stared, the more surprised he grew. Herobrine didn't looked anything like the Herobrine he dreamt of last night. He looked rather skinny, almost the same size as Steve. He didn't have any rippling arm muscles or a defined back shape, he didn't have a skinny waist or a dirty, calloused hand. He looked to be...paler and even less attractive than the Herobrine in Steve's dream or the Herobrine Steve remembered from years ago... but maybe players just change over time, perhaps Steve is still stuck in the past and he just needs to move on, to remember the present things and not the past. If this is what Herobrine looks like now, then so be it.

Herobrine was furiously muttering something under his breath while punching the oak wood, his white eyes glaring at the wood as he punched it. Steve continued staring with wide eyes, his hand rubbing the purple, enchanted stick rhythmically, as if ready to hit Herobrine with it unceasingly if needed.

The Underworld god cut the tree down and turned to the side, staring at Steve's house with an angry, disgusted look on his face. His white eyes then fell on Steve's door. He seemed to flinch a little, his eyebrows turning upwards and his eyes growing wider on his face as he saw Steve's big eyes staring at him from the window frame on the oak door. Steve tipped his head a little, his eyes locked on the Underworld god's face. _Did I just...scare him?_

"Fucking hell. Little creeper, aren't you." Herobrine spoke, his voice not as low and cold sounding as Steve remembered it to be. Steve was very, very confused at this point. _One, Herobrine looks A LOT different than how he used to look like, if I remember correctly, but it's been a thousand years. Two, I just scared him, which is NOT normal at all._ And three, he was punching a tree down with his bare fist and it took him forever. That is also NOT normal. What is going on? All of Steve's suspicions were making him feel even more scared and unsafe. His fingertips clenched and rubbed the stick quickly and nervously.

Herobrine locked his eyes with Steve's, staring at him with his mouth open as if he wanted to say something but nothing was coming out. Steve didn't dare take his eyes off of Herobrine for a second. He didn't dare speak either.

"Why don't you come out, Steve. I want to talk with you, as you may know." Herobrine slowly mumbled, giving Steve a scary looking smirk, his white eyes lifelessly staring into Steve's face. His eyes didn't seem to have a glow in them, they were just...white. _Odd... He really is different than how I remember him to be..._

A weird feeling filled Steve's chest, it was composed of boldness, curiosity, and fearlessness. The younger miner continued staring at Herobrine, his hand tightly gripping the enchanted stick as he opened his wooden door, slowly pushing it to the side. Steve felt extremely odd and hesitant, but there was something about Herobrine that didn't seem to scare him as much as he thought he'd be... Steve couldn't quite put a finger on what it was, but he was glad to be feeling that way.

"Yes, come closer why don't you." Herobrine said, taking a small, rather slow step towards Steve. Was he scared to get closer to Steve? Was he nervous about being here?

Steve moved closer and closer to Herobrine until he was only two blocks away, gazing up into Herobrine's face rather shyly. Herobrine didn't seem to be very tall...

The demon still had a wide, scary looking smirk on his face as he stared into Steve's eyes. Steve purposefully gave him a little glare and waved his enchanted purple stick in the air at his side, making sure the Underworld god saw it.

Herobrine raised an eyebrow, still smirking. "What's that you got there?" He asked and pointed to the stick.

Steve's mouth gapped a little bit. He doesn't know what this is? I thought Notch said that he would know and he might even get scared and leave me alone for a bit because of it! "You...you don't know what this is?" Steve stammered in surprise.

Herobrine smirked and shrugged, shaking his head slowly. "I've never seen it before in my life. Looks pretty sketchy to me, like a hack or somethin weird."

The Overworld player looked at his feet, confused by why Herobrine wasn't speaking in a formal way, he was seemingly talking to Steve as if they were young, passive players. Herobrine almost never used contractions in his speech, if Steve remembered correctly. _What is going on? Do I just...not remember Herobrine correctly or something? Oh Notch, please help me understand what's going on!_

"N-Notch gave it to me... He said that it has lots of power in it and that I should use it on those who make me feel unsafe." Steve muttered, looking into Herobrine's eyes intimidatingly.

For some reason Herobrine's face seemed to harden and his eyebrows raised, his lips pursing together. Steve studied the look, seeing how pale Herobrine's forehead had gotten. Is he scared now? Did I just scare him?

"Oh come on, Steve. You won't be needing that. I just want to talk with you a bit and show you...my mansion...in the Nether. You'll like it a bunch." The god spoke, flushing his paleness away with a dark chuckle, flashing his teeth at Steve.

Notch specifically told me NOT to enter the Nether. He must be trying to trick me. You can never trust Herobrine, that's for sure. Steve backed away from the god, backing up towards his front door so he could open it. He softly said, "I'm not supposed to go to the Nether. I'd rather stay in the Overworld anyway, Herobrine."

Herobrine took a step towards Steve, looking frustrated. "Oh I know, I know. I should've recognized that you would say no. Still, I need you to come with me sometime soon, Steve. I have something very important to show you. It is hidden from the outside World, so nobody knows of it but me...and now you. I want to show you it Steve, you will like it," the god rambled quickly, his eyebrows furrowing. "Just think of it as a present from me to you, Steve. A gift of peace."

Steve started breathing harshly, feeling extremely uncomfortable. It just didn't seem right, his words didn't seem reliable. The way Herobrine was quickly throwing things at Steve felt extremely threatening and untrustworthy. Steve put his hand on his doorknob and turned it slightly, gripping the hard wood in nervousness.

"No. I can't. Absolutely not. Go away. I need to rest now." Steve said, eyeing Herobrine wearily.

"Oh for fuck's sake it's morning, Steve." Herobrine hollered, throwing his hands up in the air and trudging quickly towards Steve, his eyebrows slanted and white eyes narrowed in anger. "You will come with me now.

"STAY BACK! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Steve yelled, swinging the enchanted stick in front of his body, only a second away from hitting Herobrine but he had flinched and leaned backwards.

"GEEZ! Stop it you crazy FREAK! There's no need to hit me with that stick thing! I'm not going to hurt you, I just want you to come and follow me NOW." Herobrine shouted, glaring at Steve and waving his hand to the side, beckoning Steve towards him.

"I told you no! I said no!" Steve cried, squinting and waving the stick in front of his body madly.

"Oh for god's sake! Calm down and stop acting like a fucking child. PUT THAT THING DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!"

Steve's heart suddenly twisted and started to ache when Herobrine finished his sentence. Why does he have to be so mean and senseless around me? Can't he see that what he's doing is making me scared? Steve looked at the ground desolately and flickered his eyes up to Herobrine's, sighing and putting his tense arm at his side while loosening his grip on the enchanted stick. "I'm not a child..." Steve muttered, shame for his behavior suddenly hitting him hard in the chest. Maybe he is being childish. Maybe he should clam down. Maybe this is all normal and he's just overreacting.

Herobrine suddenly moved extremely close to Steve, so close that Steve could smell the sweat on his dirty shirt. Steve's nose wrinkled a little, Herobrine didn't exactly small pleasant...

"You won't be a child if you put that stick down that Notch gave you. In fact why don't you just hand it to me, it'll help us form a more trusting relationship." The god spoke, almost muttering it into Steve's ear. His pale, stalky arm reached forward to brush the purple stick in Steve's tight grip, his head tipped and eyes studying Steve's face intensely. Steve only gulped and shyly looked back into Herobrine's eyes.

It was interesting, standing there with so much tension between them. The way Herobrine had his hand rested on the stick made Steve feel extremely on edge, knowing that at any second he might try to yank it out of Steve's grasp. It was scary to Steve, he felt uncomfortable and nervous.

"Steve. Let go. Let's be nice to each other. I just want to show you a few things, then you may go back to exploring and living your life in Worlds. I want to consume as little of your time as possible." Herobrine said almost gently, his scratchy, low voice inches away from Steve's ear. A different feeling also washed over Steve's mind and it caused him to blush, his eyes closing slowly.

"Maybe if you say it nicer then I will..." Steve muttered almost unconsciously. He treasured the feeling of having another player so close to him, it enraptured his mind. Even though Herobrine was sweaty and chaotic, Steve couldn't help but like the fact that the god was so close to him.

Herobrine sighed in frustration and disgust. "Oh, am I already not being nice enough for you? I could end you right now, Steve."

"If you whisper it in my ear and be nice then maybe I'll give you the stick..." the younger miner muttered, flashing Herobrine a rather devious grin.

"Oh for fuck's sake-" The god growled, but then leaned in and put his mouth by Steve's small, tan ear. The god mumbled hoarsely, "Can I please have the stick, Steve? If you give it to me then we can try to start a real connection...a real bond."

Steve burst out into giggles, slapping a hand over his mouth in attempt to stifle them.

"What's so funny you little shit?" Herobrine snarled, pushing one of his hands into Steve's shoulder roughly.

"Y-You sound so funny when you say that to me! You act so nice and you sound so innocent but I know inside that you want to kill me! What a joke!" Steve giggled, smiling at Herobrine happily.

The god glared at the human and tugged on the enchanted stick. "You were the one who asked me to be fucking nice. Why are you so choked up that I was?"

Steve's smile disappeared as soon as he felt Herobrine tug on the stick. "That wasn't a real type of nice. I asked you to be a real type of nice to me." Steve said, hitting Herobrine's hand away from the stick. "I'm not giving it to you, Herobrine."

"What the hell!" The god snarled, running his hands through his messy hair angrily. "I did everything you told me to, and you promised that you'd give me that freaking stick!"

"Now who's acting so childish?" Steve cried, "And no, I didn't promise that I'd give you it! You weren't being nice or mature!"

Herobrine let out a hiss of frustration and slammed Steve's shoulders back against the oak planks of his house. Steve's breath hitched a little at the face of Herobrine's push, his shoulders limply sagging downwards.

The god's white eyes pierced through Steve's violet ones, his face full of impatience and disgust. "Give me the stick right now or I will not hesitate to kill you," he murmured slowly, his hot breath hitting Steve's nose and mouth. The human only shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, trying to strain his neck to the side so he could avoid Herobrine's breath. Steve wouldn't dare think of giving the demon the stick. Herobrine cannot be trusted, especially when he is this angry.

Herobrine suddenly grabbed the stick and yanked it, loosening Steve's grip on it. Steve yelped and yanked on it as well, attempting to swing it towards Herobrine's stomach. The god noticed and leaped up into the air, hissing and growling down at Steve.

"It's my stick!" Steve yelled up in the air, glaring at the god. Herobrine gave Steve a death stare and then disappeared, seeming to fly away above the oak tree forest. Steve was shocked when he saw this, for he didn't ever remember Herobrine being able to do that in the past.

Without much hesitation, Steve frantically grabbed a shovel and dug straight down like a mad man, quickly placing dirt back over the entrance of his hidey-hole. He then crouched down in the darkness of the earth, trying to control his abnormal breathing. The only thing he could think about was: Why? Why is Herobrine so different than the Herobrine every player knew of in the past? What is he hiding in the Nether?

Steve looked down at Notch's enchanted stick with a desolate expression on his face. He knew that he couldn't exit the World now, because if he did, he might never find Herobrine again. He has to stay here until Herobrine gives him more information on what he has going on in the Nether and why he appears to look and act so different now.

Steve felt a tear roll down his cheek and he clenched his teeth. He never thought in a million years that Herobrine would be this arrogant and nasty. It's as if he doesn't have a heart. It's as if he doesn't care about anything except getting his way with Steve. This destroyed Steve's heart because rather secretly, he wished that Herobrine would be considerate of his thoughts and intentions because of how long they've known each other.

But Herobrine is terrible. He's gross. This World is already Hell.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rising Hysteria

Beads of sweat formed on Steve's forehead as his dirty hands fumbled through his double chest frantically. He repeated only one sentence over and over in his mind as he went through his chest: _only take what you need_.

He was not safe out in the open like this. He needed to go somewhere safe, somewhere hidden from sight. Now that Steve has encountered Herobrine on this World, there is absolutely NO WAY he can have a house out in the open like this for Herobrine to screw up and peep around in whenever he pleased.

Steve quickly broke his bed, work bench, and furnace, as well taking all of his important items out of his double chest. His violet eyes swerved around insanely across the grassland biome, searching for any type of Herobrine crap. Once he concluded that it was safe, he bolted from his door, sprinting as fast as his legs could towards the thick, oak forest in front of his house. He would be more safe traveling in the forest because the trees would help hide him. If he stayed out in the open grassland, he was unquestionably Herobrine prey, and that was the last thing he wanted. Steve dreaded the thought of Herobrine finding and harassing him again. Steve wanted to be the one to find Herobrine, not the opposite.

The sweat on Steve's forehead started to roll down the sides of his face as he seemingly sprinted for years. The miner was fortunate to be very healthy and in great shape. This made sprinting for long periods of time easier for him to do without becoming exhausted or feeling starved.

As he ran, Steve thought about Herobrine's health. Would he even be able to sprint as fast and as long as Steve? He seemed to be very pale and almost emaciated. That is not normal for Herobrine.

Steve still couldn't believe how different Herobrine looked than how he remembered. When he had that strange dream a night ago, the Herobrine in his dream looked exactly like the Herobrine Steve remembered. But...the Herobrine he met in real life looked _nothing_ like him...

Strange.

Steve shook his head a bit, clearing his interruptive thoughts. He needed to focus on what was happing right NOW, not what happened then. His legs were starting to ache and his back was killing him, signaling to Steve that he would't be able to run much further without some rest.

As Steve looked around the dark forest, suddenly a deep ravine came into his view, only a hundred or so blocks in front of him. Steve sighed in relief and smiled. A ravine is the perfect place to hide and rest in. Steve needed to get somewhere deep underground. Only then would he feel safe from Herobrine.

His strides slowly came to a halt as approached the ravine, looking over the ledge cautiously to see how deep it was. It was indeed deep, Steve could spot lava and multiple cave systems branching off of the ravine at the very bottom of it. _This is perfect_. _Herobrine will never be able to find me down there!_

The dark ravine had multiple, long vines that spiraled down into its depths, making it easy for Steve to get to the very bottom of it. He took note that a jungle biome was near, for many trees were covered in vines around this ravine. Steve never liked living in jungle biomes because of how hard it was to journey through them, but he liked to admire their beauty from afar. Luckily for him, ravines are nothing like jungles. They are much safer and easier to move around in.

Steve grabbed a vine and slowly slid down into the depths of the ravine. The air became much colder and drier as he plunged into the darkness of the cavern. The smell of cave water and old stone rushed into his nose, bringing nostalgia to the young miner. He suddenly realized how much he missed mining and wandering around in cave systems. It was something he used to quite frequently, mining used to be the only thing he really enjoyed doing. Nowadays, his interests are a bit different. Presently, player Steve enjoys to adventure, explore, and fight. He has been mining less and less, not paying much attention to the Underworld at all.

After many ticks, the human reached the rock bottom of the ravine. It was eerily quiet, the air cold and mysterious. The only sound Steve could hear was the sound of a small waterfall pouring out from the side of one of the towering cave walls. It was also extremely dark, the only light source being a small pool of lava and the Overworld's sky, which was now at least 80 blocks away from the bottom of the ravine where Steve stood. A sense of thrill and excitement took over Steve's mind and body as he thought about where to start exploring...and also where to start hiding from Herobrine.

The curiosity-filled Overworld player quickly set up his work bench, chest, and furnace in one of the dark corners of the ravine, crafting a few torches and going into one of the dark cave systems to dig a small tunnel in the side of the cave wall. He made a small living space in the stone walls and placed his bed down, putting his door up near the entrance to his little tunnel. He would have to sleep without any torches near him tonight because just a single torch could completely blow his cover. Steve didn't mind sleeping with "the lights off," but he most certainly prefers having many light sources around him while he sleeps so monsters don't disturb him...or even scary Herobrine monsters, for that matter. Steve snickered under his breath.

The human twirled his stone pickaxe around in his hand. _Should I mine to kill time? It's going to be night soon. He'll have an even harder time finding me when it's dark. Plus, the farther I go into the caves around here, the less likely he'll be able to find me_.

Steve made up his mind and ventured off into a dark cave, exploring the secrets of the Underworld without placing down a single torch throughout the entire duration of his journey.

...

When Steve arrived back at his crafting table and camp out place, he was exhausted and filthy. Even so, his capped lips formed a satisfied smile. In short explanation, he had a _blast_. He held over two stacks of coal and iron, a stack of red stone, and five diamonds. The joys of mining got the best of him and he went a little mining-happy in the caves, collecting everything he saw.

His mining trip did indeed kill time, for now the sun was gone and infinite darkness took over the sky. Steve could only barely see the Overworld's sky, but he knew that it wasn't day because no more light was coming through the ravine's opening. This relieved Steve because now Herobrine would have a difficult time navigating himself around the Overworld's biomes to find Steve.

"Lol. Get screwed Herobrine," Steve muttered under his breath childishly.

The young miner ate some pork chop and walked over to the small waterfall that flowed out of one of the ravine's walls. He really needed to wash his face and hands, his skin was covered in sweat and dark, coal smudges.

Before the Overworld player could dive his hands into the cave water, a sudden, powerful wind rocked throughout the entire ravine, knocking Steve over and pushing him down on the chilly cave floor. The human gritted his teeth and grunted in discomfort, the cold wind chilling him to the bone. He quickly brought his hands up to embrace himself, trying to protect his lowering body temperature from the cold wind.

Steve fought the urge to shout, but the cold wind was merciless, originating from seemingly nowhere. _What is going on? What is this?!_

And just within a few seconds, it was gone. The wind seemed to disappear just as fast as it appeared. Steve freaked out and furiously splashed water on his face and raced back into the cave in which he placed his bed down in. He darted down his small tunnel and opened the door leading to his bedroom, closing it behind him and placing cobblestone down in front of it. Steve then placed a torch down next to his bed and scurried under his red blankets, his breathing erratic. _What is going on? I thought Notch said that Herobrine can't do that wind thing! I thought Notch said that only hackers and corrupted entities can produce winds like that! Did he lie to me? Did Notch lie? No, no, he's not like that... Then what was that? How did that wind get here?_

Steve slammed his face into his white pillow, whimpering in desperation for answers to his burning questions. Things keep on getting weirder and weirder on this World. How weird could things possibly get? In truth, Steve didn't want to know. The exhausted miner didn't even want to think about it. He just wanted to relax for once. He just wanted to feel safe.

Is that too much to ask for?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Mysterious Discovery

When Steve arose from his bed, he was greeted by the sight of all of his torches he had placed down in his hidey-hole last night. He sighed in disappointment at himself and rubbed his red eyes, yawning for seemingly hours on end into his hand. Apart from the fact that he felt unrested and his hair was fluffed out in all directions known to mankind, he was fine! He still hasn't been discovered by the Demi-god!

Steve glared at the wall and sighed again. _I am so done with everything on this World. I can't even sleep at night._

The player from Alpha grumbled as he crawled out of his red bed and out his hiding tunnel, making his way over to his chest. He grabbed some raw beef out of his chest and threw it in the furnace, sitting with his back to the furnace so his clothes would be heated by the warmth of the burning. He yawned again and brought his arms up to mess with his bed-head, attempting to make himself look at least _a little_ presentable. Not like there's anyone here he should be making himself look presentable for...

As he furiously ran his tan hands through his hair, an odd light source caught his eye from across the ravine. A red shadow eliminated a cave system from the opposite side of the ravine, the weird, red light spiraling down into the cave and out of Steve's eyesight.

_What...is that light source? _Steve grew extremely tense as he stared at the faint red light, his mind thinking of the worst possible things it could be. _What if it's some scary Herobrine monster? What if it's blood? What if Herobrine created a new type of blood that GLOWED?_ Steve laughed to himself quietly, trying to be humorous in effort to calm his mind.

The Alpha player turned around and took his beef out of his furnace, wolfing it down, keeping his violet eyes locked on the opposite end of the ravine the whole time. The only thing logical explanation for the odd light Steve could think of was that there was lava somewhere in the cave system and the lava's light was casting red-like shadows along the call walls. Steve didn't feel very confident about his explanation though because the light was a very dark red. It wasn't yellow or orangey at all. Steve knew what he had to do...he'd just have to check it out himself.

The human finished his beef and grabbed the purple, enchanted stick, holding it tightly in his hand as he made his way over to the opposite side of the dark ravine. Is it really possible that Herobrine somehow managed to end up in the same ravine as Steve last night? That seems impossible. But at the same time, anything's possible with the Underworld god.

As Steve got closer to the small cave in the ravine wall, the red light suddenly sparked a memory in the miner's mind. _Red stone. Red stone torches_. Steve suddenly remembered a distance scenario from long ago, it being of Steve finding a trail of red stone torches in the middle of the night leading to a nether portal. _Oh no._

Steve gulped and clutched his stick, slowly peeking his head around the corner of the cave. Sure enough, he was greeted by a long trail of red stone torches winding down a cave system. Steve's head suddenly felt light and he fell to the cold, cave floor.

_How? How is this possible? How did Herobrine get here? How did Herobrine end up in the exact same ravine as me? Herobrine actually still does this stuff? I thought he only built red stone trials in Alpha and stopped after Beta came out. He still does this? How come I haven't seen him do it on my Worlds? Is he bored of pranking me? Has he moved onto pranking different players now? Why?_

The miner took a few deep breaths in and out, trying his best to calm down. He had so, so many questions. He was beginning to feel afraid that they'd never get answered. One question really stuck in his mind though: _has Herobrine grown bored of me?_

No, that's impossible. If he was, he wouldn't have sought Steve out yesterday and tried to invite him to the Nether.

Steve looked down at his hands almost desolately. Loneliness filled him and he whispered aloud, "Why haven't you pranked me since Alpha? Why haven't you given me a sign of your existence in over ten years until now?" Steve didn't understand. "Why are you suddenly so interested in me again? You don't make any sense."

After a few minutes of just sitting there and thinking, Steve finally gained the will to rise to his feet again and follow the red stone torches. He trudged along side the torch trail, swinging the enchanted stick at his side, his previous fears gone. The only thing filling his mind was nostalgia and curiosity. Steve remembered following one of Herobrine's red stone trails in Alpha. He remembered how curious he used to be about everything regarding Herobrine and his activity. He remembered how he used to try to find Herobrine, but never could. In truth, Steve has never heard Herobrine's voice or seen him in person until now. In the Alpha days, Steve only discovered his creations and nothing else. In all honesty, the only reason why Steve knows what Herobrine looks and sounds like is because of the leaked photos and media of him in Minecraftia. But...perhaps all of those photos and videos are fake...because the Herobrine Steve has seen looks nothing like the handsome, intimidating, manipulative Herobrine that's always talked about in Minecraft News.

Steve sighed and continued walking along side the trail. Steve had kind of hoped that he would meet the Herobrine he has seen in the News. He had no clue Herobrine actually looked like what he saw yesterday morning. Honestly, who would've known?

The young miner had no clue how long he had walked because of his racing mind, but the red stone trail abruptly stopped in the middle of a large cave clearing. In the cave clearing, there was a small four by four lava pool by the wall of the cave and a Nether portal approximately twenty blocks from it. The lava pool was definitely made by someone. It's not normal for a four by four lava pit to generate in the middle of a cave floor with no other lava surrounding the area. As for the Nether portal, Steve already knew it was bad news.

The human suddenly became a little creeped out. Now that his mind had stopped being so loud, he realized how quiet it was. It was _deathly_ quiet. No bats squeaking, no monsters growling, no cave water falling... It was terrifying down here, especially since there were no monster sounds. Ever since Steve joined this World, he hasn't seen a single monster. That is obviously a big red flag that Herobrine is somewhere roaming around here. Even the monsters are scared of him. He is the Lord of everything dark. The dark doesn't even mess with him.

Steve blushed and shook his head side to side furiously, embarrassed about catching himself in the middle of fanboying over Herobrine's abilities.

The distraught player bit the inside of his cheek in embarrassment slowly walked over to the small lava pool, crouching next to it to warm his hands and study it. _Herobrine bathes in lava, right? So...basically he led me straight to his bathtub._

Steve gave off a few nervous laughs and awkwardly bunny hopped away from the lava pool almost as soon as he got there. He didn't realize it till now, but at some point he had put away his enchanted god-stick Notch gave him. Steve hummed in thought and looked about the cave. He didn't exactly feel scared or in danger, just a bit creeped out. That's normal to feel though. Judging by the complete silence, the overall darkness of the cave, and the only light coming from blood-red torches, feeling creeped out is a totally normal thing to feel in this situation.

Player Steve knew that he shouldn't be getting close to the Nether in any way, but he couldn't help walking up to the obsidian structure and pushing his hand into the hard material. Just think about it, Herobrine _placed_ this. He placed this with _his own hand_.

Steve looked at the Nether portal in wonder, his purple eyes traveling up and down the portal curiously. He's been deprived of Herobrine activity for far too long. Now he doesn't even know who Herobrine is any more. He doesn't even remember Herobrine's existence, making him far too curious now that Herobrine is trying to communicate with him once more.

Something weird caught Steve's attention as he looked at the obsidian blocks. There was a sign placed on the lowest obsidian block, the one touching the stone floor of the cave. The sign was empty and a little dusty. Steve raised an eyebrow. How long has this sign been here? How long has this portal been here?!

The young miner smiled and dusted off the sign with his hand, grabbing some of his coal that he was carrying and neatly sketching in the middle of the sign: Hi :)

Steve giggled at how kiddish his message looked on the sign. Who knows, maybe the evil, scary Herobrine likes smiley faces.

Steve knew that he shouldn't stay here long, he needed to go back to his camp out and gather his stuff. Now that Herobrine has a base thing so close to him, he can't stay here. He needs to be as far away from Herobrine as possible in order to avoid him from forcing him into the Nether for whatever reason. The Nether is the one place Notch told him to avoid going into at all costs.

The miner took one last look at the lava pool and old Nether portal before climbing back up the winding tunnel that led him there...

When Steve finally emerged from the depths of the cave systems and into the ravine once more, he breathed in the fresher air happily, clearing his lungs. For once, the adventurer didn't feel stressed or panicked while packing his stuff up. In fact, he felt quite calm and collected. His discovery had sparked nice memories in his mind and made him feel like a curious, knowledge-seeking player once more. He liked feeling like that again.

The last thing player Steve dug up was his bed before he grabbed the long vine he had gotten into the ravine with and proceeded to climb out with.


	9. Chapter 9

Running Into The God

Once Steve reached the top of the ravine, he turned around and clutched the side of the ledge to peek over the side of it. He panted and stared down at the bottom of the ravine in satisfaction. It looked untouched. It looked as if he had never been there. It looked _perfect_.

Steve, feeling satisfied, slowly turned away from the ravine and looked across the jungly, grassland biome, deciding where he should hide next. The oak forest he had traveled in the day before kept him covered quite well, but it might be the first place Herobrine checks. A faint memory had come to the miner's mind about how Herobrine likes oak forests, not grasslands.

_Ah, that's right. He doesn't like to travel out in the open either. We have that in common._

Steve decided that taking the jungle route over to the open grassland was the best choice. Out of all of the biomes in Minecraft, Steve has never seen or heard of Herobrine going into a jungle. Never.

Once Steve was at the grassland, he would create an underground base and live in it for a while. It would be extremely hard for Herobrine to find him unless he dug around in the earth, which is NOT typical Herobrine behavior...but even so, Steve could see him doing it. He could picture Herobrine with a diamond shovel snarling down at the grassy earth while furiously digging it up, his lips curved upwards in disgust and desperation to find Steve.

Steve laughed as he pictured this. _Herobrine is such a child. A crazy, chaotic, childish man. Well, I guess I kind of am too... That's why we get in so many stupid arguments. We're more alike than we realize._

The player from Alpha cleared his thoughts and slowly entered the dense jungle, dreading the thought of having to journey through it. He'd have to though if he wanted to go unspotted by the god, which is totally worth the struggle.

Steve hobbled through the overgrown, clustered forest, soon finding it useful to use his sword to slash away leaves and vines that got in his face. The sun beat down on the canopy of trees and grasses, making the ground underneath the canopy dense and humid. After only a little while of venturing through the jungle, Steve was sweating profusely.

Steve muttered and cursed under his breath as he climbed over leaves and batted away vines from his face. "Stupid jungle. So much stupid stuff in the jungle." He rambled angrily, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

After about an hour of journeying, Steve decided to sit down and rest. His head was on fire and his blue shirt was practically soaked with sweat. The miner noticed this and took it off, not even thinking twice. He didn't care if Herobrine saw him at this point, he was so, SO hot...

Steve placed his crafting table down in the middle of a leaf patch and made a few cookies out of the coco beans he had picked up along the way. Hopefully eating some cookies would restore his sanity here.

As he bit into a cookie, he noticed a blue parrot slowly fluttering towards him. _Oh no... This is the absolute last thing I need in this World: an animal campaign._

Steve gulped down his cookie and waved one of his hands in the air at the blue parrot making headway towards him. "No, shoo. No cookies. Go away." He said sternly.

The parrot only squawked in response, flying towards Steve persistently. The miner rolled his eyes and sighed, biting into another cookie and turning his back towards the parrot. He didn't have time to deal with innocent, loving animals in this silent battle between him and Herobrine. Animals don't deserve to get in between the action of the two.

Steve turned a little bit to adjust his legs, but the side of his leg hit something warm and feathery.

"AH!" Steve yelled and flinched, staring at the blue parrot insanely. He quickly realized his fault and slapped his head over his mouth, huffing and puffing crazily. _Oh holy Notch. If Herobrine heard that then..._

The blue parrot squawked loudly at Steve and pecked at his cookie. Steve snatched his cookie away from the parrot and glared at it, his purple eyes piercing into the parrot's small, black ones. After their stare contest, the parrot walked towards Steve's lap defiantly, attempting to peck at his cookie once more.

"No! I said NOOO." Steve whispered harshly at the parrot and poked it's feathery head angrily. The parrot still wasn't getting the memo though, it pecked at Steve's hand which held the cookie unceasingly. Steve glared at the parrot and muttered, "screw it," under his breath. He shoved the whole cookie in his mouth and devoured it in front of the blue parrot with a 'whatcha gonna go do now?' type of glint in his eye. The parrot only watched, its eyes glued on Steve's mouth as he chewed the cookie.

"There. It's gone. No more cookie." Steve mumbled, smacking his lips while swallowing the last bit of his cookie. The parrot squawked at him and jumped up on Steve's lap, strutting around it defiantly. Steve grimaced in discomfort as the parrot dug its sharp claws into his skin, pecking here and there, probably looking for another cookie. "Oh, aren't you something special..." Steve muttered sarcastically and wrapped his hands around the blue parrot, causing the parrot to squawk nervously at the sudden action. Player Steve held the blue parrot to his bare chest with one hand and put some seeds in his other, cupping his hand and lifting it up towards the parrot's beak. Steve really couldn't help being gracious with mobs. He loved them all.

The blue parrot soon realized that the player from Alpha was treating him and quickly dug his beak into the pile of seeds in Steve's hand, cooing happily. Steve smiled down at the parrot, his heart warming. Animals really are his weakness. Even in a World where he's alone with no other player present, animals are all he needs in order to lift his spirits. That's how he survived in Alpha. He befriended all of the animals in order to keep his internal structure intact.

After the blue parrot finished his snack, he wiggled out of Steve's grasp and hopped up onto Steve's shoulder, pushing its feathery head into Steve's hair. The miner almost melted as it did so. _Man, I'm such a softy. I can't handle mobs when they're nice to me. All I've ever done is destroyed parts of their World, yet they love me no matter what. How bizarre is that? These innocent creatures love monsters who are BEYOND undeserving of their unceasing love and affection. How precious can they be?_

Steve dug up his crafting table and slowly continued his journey, the parrot sitting on his shoulder the whole time. Sure, at times the parrot's claws hurt Steve's bare shoulder skin, but most of the time it just tickled a bit and reminded Steve that he wasn't alone, which was very nice. He always appreciated that feeling. _Well, unless if it's Herobrine making him feel like he's not alone._

The rest of the walk through the jungle was nice. Steve paced himself at a slower speed as well for the parrot, resulting in him not sweating as much as before. He whispered things to the parrot here and there, explaining what he was doing and where he was going. Even though Steve mostly spoke nonsense to the parrot, it still comforted him that another living creature was listening to his words and not judging them. Steve doesn't really know how much he has bottled up inside him until he finally starts talking to another creature, unfortunately.

Before player Steve knew it, he had made it to the grassland. The jungle leaves slowly stopped spawning along the ground and the jungle trees faded into oak trees, the leaves on the oak trees dark green and small, clustered together in tight blocks.

"You sure do make the journey easy-breezy for me, huh?" Steve mumbled and reached up to rub his finger in the blue parrot's neck feathers. The parrot cooed in response and lightly nibbled at Steve's finger.

The miner smiled and walked over to a small cave entrance in the middle of a flat, grassy plain. "Let's camp here for a bit, alright?" He told the blue parrot while setting his crafting table down along the stone wall of the small cave. It was barely a cave at all, just a small indent in the Overworld's terrain. Even though it was a small hole, it was just big enough for Steve to hide in and not be seen in from above.

Player Steve set his chests and furnace down, emptying most of his stuff into them. The one thing he always kept with him was the enchanted stick, just in case something happens.

"Want to sit down? Want to take a break from my shoulder?" Steve mumbled to the parrot, putting his hands around it and gently taking it off his shoulder. The parrot squawked and hopped around on Steve's crafting table, looking up at him with its intense, beady little eyes. Steve smiled and chuckled a little. The bird sure did have lots of personality.

As soon as Steve pulled his cyan shirt back over his head, the parrot flew up and perched on his shoulder once more. Steve could only shrug and chuckle, rubbing his finger into its blue belly feathers.

"Well, I guess we better get mining, huh? I should grab some more cobblestone to make more furnaces to cook my raw meats." Steve stated, his blue parrot replying to his words with a rather cute peep.

Steve took out his iron pickaxe and started gathering blocks of cobblestone, digging a straight line into the Overworld's earth. He continued digging in front of him for a while, stumbling across a patch of coal and three blocks of iron. After gathering the last of the coal from the coal patch, he decided to mine straight up to see how far he had gone from his crafting table and chests.

As the young miner tunneled upwards, his parrot began to hop up and down on his shoulder rather quickly, pecking at Steve's shirt almost aggressively. Steve shot the bird a quick glare and shooed away its beak from his shirt. "We're almost to the top, okay? Just hold on a bit longer, birdie." Steve murmured impatiently, quickly placing blocks underneath his feet as he got himself out of his tunnel.

When Steve reached the top level of the grass, he came face to face with two, blue legs in front of him. He screamed louder than ever before and cowered in his one block indent in the ground, breathing erratically and whimpering in pure shock.

Much to Steve's surprise, Herobrine screamed too. The god lifted his hands up to pull his brown hair outwards and holler up at the sky like a maniac.

"AHHH!" Herobrine yelled, "Don't DO THAT, crazy human. Don't SCREAM. I hate that!" He furiously rambled, itching the back of his head with fidgety hands.

This made Steve start laughing in amusement. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

"NO. You just FREAK ME OUT WHEN YOU MAKE LOUD NOISES." Herobrine growled back, standing over Steve with his hands on his hips arrogantly.

"What?! The god of monsters and darkness, lord of the Nether and all hellish places gets freaked out by a little, harmless adventurer like me? What a joke!" Steve laughed, clutching the grass blocks around him in order to balance himself and his parrot that was still holding onto his shoulder.

"Shut up you purple-eyed, brown-haired SCOUNDREL."

Steve lost in and cackled loudly, falling into the dirt block in laughter, making his parrot squawk loudly and fly off of him, zooming up into the air.

"What so funny you little shit?" The god spat.

"Oh H-Herobrine, you are so—"

"You know what, don't even speak. Don't even talk to me. Don't even say MY NAME. I'm done." Herobrine grumbled, grabbing Steve's arm. Steve's laughter immediately disappeared as soon as he felt his arm being tugged upwards by the demon.

"Um...let go of me please?" Steve asked awkwardly, looking up at Herobrine's face in confusion.

The demon took a few steps closer to Steve so his face was inches from the human's, the atmosphere between them suddenly growing disturbingly tense. "No, Steve. This time I'm not letting you go. You will come with me to the Nether, NOW. I have been waiting so patiently all this time."

Steve wiggled around in the god's tight grasp, yanking and pulling his arm around. "No! I do not want to go! Let go of me!" He panted, softly kicking his shoes into Herobrine's legs.

"Goddamnit Steve why do you have to make things so difficult. Just come with me, just ONCE. I need to show you something. It'll only take a few seconds, idiot." Herobrine said, giving Steve a disgusted look and yanking on Steve's arm more.

"I don't even know what you want me to do! I don't even know what this is! What do you want to show me? Why won't you tell me about anything you're doing in the Nether?" Steve wailed, "you're lying!"

"No! I'm not fucking lying!" Herobrine snarked back, giving Steve's arm an extremely hard tug, bringing Steve to his knees with the force of the pull.

Pain seared up Steve's arm and he clenched his teeth shut, hissing. Due to the amount of pain his arm was in, he quickly started to ramble out meaningless sentences in order to distract Herobrine from hurting his arm again. He quickly blurted, "I saw your portal! I saw it. I almost went into it. Okay? I almost went to the Nether for you. Please, please don't force me into there when I was already about to go there. Please..."

Herobrine's harsh grasp on Steve's flesh suddenly loosened and he gave Steve a mysterious look, one Steve couldn't read.

"Portal?" Herobrine almost whispered.

Steve gasped and looked up at the god's confused face, replying in a breathy voice, "Yes. Yes, I did. I did."

"Where was this...portal?" Herobrine questioned, the unknown expression on his face causing Steve to flicker his eyes from and to the Nether lord's face in awkwardness.

"Uh...the one at the end of your red stone trail?" Steve mumbled back, raising an eyebrow in confusion. _How forgetful and careless is Herobrine?_

The god snorted, his grip on the human's arm tightening once more, causing Steve to wince in pain. "You're officially out of your mind, Steve. I'm sick and tired of hearing your psychotic excuses and childish nonsense," he told the younger miner.

"W-What?"

"Oh, look here. This is another sign that you've officially lost it," the god said in an almost sarcastic tone, turning to the side, dragging Steve's arm along with him. The player from Alpha tried his best to stifle his whimpers with his other hand, but the pain in his arm was too great, and a few noticeable sounds of pain escaped his lips. Even worse, when Herobrine turned back around, he was clutching Steve's blue parrot in his hand, smirking.

"H-Hero-"

"Come with me to the Nether_...NOW_." He growled, his pale, skinny fingers wrapped around the parrot's body tightly, making the poor bird shriek and wiggle around in the god's grasp desperately.

Steve breathed in and out heavily, locking his eyes with the god's white, lifeless ones. "Herobrine, that bird did _nothing_ to you. Killing him will do _nothing_."

Herobrine shrugged and gave Steve the evilest smile the player had ever seen. "Sure, killing it won't do anything to me, but it _will_ do something to _you_."

And just as Herobrine finished his sentence, his fingers wrapped around the parrot tighter and tighter, making the parrot start shrieking in pain.

"HEROBRINE STOP." Steve yelled sternly, glaring at the god his intense, violet eyes.

The god gave him a small snicker and pulled on his arm harder than ever before, dragging him across the grassland. Steve yelped in agony and tried his hardest to hit Herobrine with his other arm, but the god's grasp on his arm was too tight and he was dragging him around the grass too fast for Steve to fight. His arm was on fire, it felt as if it was being torn off.

The demon raised his other hand clutching the blue parrot above his head and threw the parrot onto the ground, punching it mercilessly into the ground. Steve screamed and hit Herobrine's arm over and over with his other hand, yelling at the god to stop.

Steve screamed while listening to the parrot's cries of pain, his heart shattering into a million pieces. _It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh my god._

The parrot's cries turned into weak peeps as Herobrine killed it, panting insanely. Steve yelled and hit Herobrine's arm continuously, but his punches did absolutely nothing. His parrot was dead. He was next.

"I HATE YOU." Steve yelled uncontrollably, making Herobrine turn back towards him, clutching the feathers of the parrot in his hand.

"Really?" The god smirked, giving Steve a satisfied look.

The miner nodded crazily, his cheeks wet with tears. "I HATE YOU!" He shouted again, his face scrunched up in pain and anger. Steve's body shook and he sobbed, staring at Herobrine's face in pure hatred.

"GOOD. Now we're even. How nice is that, huh?" Herobrine replied, crouching down by Steve's head, giving him a controlling look.

"WE WILL NEVER BE EVEN. YOU WILL NEVER BE LIKE ME." Steve screamed, taking this opportunity to swing his purple, enchanted stick into Herobrine's stomach, yelling insanely as his did so.

Herobrine was sent flying backwards into the air, his body rising up into the night sky and then being pushed hundreds—thousands of blocks away. Steve screamed like a madman as he watched Herobrine's body fling out of sight in the night sky, sobbing, "I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU."

As soon as Herobrine was flung out of sight, Steve collapsed to the ground in a crumbled heap, sobbing. He held his enchanted stick close to his chest and pushed his cheek against it, the searing pain in his arm making him whimper helplessly. No help was coming, so he just closed his violet eyes and embraced his pain, sobbing, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you" on repeat.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello, Herobrine

Steve wiped his crusty eyes, his brown lashes still wet with tears. The miner couldn't remember that last time he cried, it's been awhile. He wished it could've stayed that way. This shouldn't have happened. If he had not been so stupid and befriended a mob on this World of hell, it wouldn't have died such an inhumane, absolutely _horrible_ death. It was all his fault.

Steve looked down at the god-stick in his hand, sniffling depressively. _Well...at least I know how powerful this thing is now... It can send another Being hundreds of blocks up in the air and thousands of blocks far, far away. I don't think Herobrine will be able to come back to me for awhile now._

The young miner's hatred for Herobrine was through the roof. Never had he felt so angered and unsettled by another Being in his entire existence in Minecraftia. Steve felt confident that if he did see Herobrine again, he would use the enchanted stick on him once more. He would do it as many times as he needed. He would do it till the end of time, for Nethersake.

Steve brought a hand up to wipe his wet cheek, sniffling a bit in remembrance of the blue parrot. _Come on, Steve. Move on. Come on, you have to do this._

With much difficulty, he slowly rose to his feet and staggered towards his crafting table, chests, and furnaces in the small cave. As soon as he got to his furnace, he fell down to the cold, stone ground and grabbed some raw meat out of his chest, pushing it into his furnace desperately, his body weak from physical and emotional pain. His right arm was still on fire, it needed a healing potion or at least a golden apple. Cooked beef would hopefully heal it a bit, but it wouldn't heal it all the way. Steve _really_ needed a golden apple.

The Alpha player's eyes lit up as he remembered that he had gathered some spare gold ingots from a monster spawner chest. He also realized that he could make some iron armor to better protect himself and his arm while it healed.

Steve wearily pushed open his chest with his good hand and turned pale. _Wait. Where is my ore? No. No..._

The young miner rummaged through his two chests, searching in every slot—in every possible place his ore could be. It wasn't there. The only ore Steve found was the ore he had recently mined up here. He didn't have any of his ore from the ravine. Steve sighed and face-palmed. He remembered that he had put his ore in a secret chest in his bedroom there. He completely forgot that it was hidden there.

"Stupid, stupid!" Steve scowled at himself, pulling his cooked beef out of his furnace and gulping it down angrily. Now he would have to travel all the way back to the ravine...across the grassland, through the jungle, and he would have to do all of this in the middle of the night. Unbelievable.

_Is it really worth it?_ Steve thought, wondering if making the journey just to get his ore was really needed. Then again, he had gotten so much ore in the ravine...over two stacks of iron, he believed. _Screw it. I'm going back. It's not like Herobrine's going to be able to get me. He's not. He can't. He's wounded and thousands of blocks away. I don't have to worry about the parrot either because it's dead... All I have to worry about now is myself._

Steve felt a bit lonely as he traveled back into the jungle. With the warm wind blowing against him and the bright stars shining above his head, he really wished Alex was here to journey with him. She was a fearless, strong player. She could venture through any World infested with Herobrine monsters with a beaming smile and a sword full of hope and confidence. Sometimes Steve wished he could be more like her. He wished that he could feel strong and confident all the time. She is blessed to feel that way continuously.

The Alpha player sighed and looked at the ground as he walked, his posture slouched and sloppy. He remembered how fascinated he used to be with Herobrine and everything surrounding him. He remembered how much he yearned to meet him and talk to him. He remembered reading Minecraftia's News and watching viral videos of Herobrine that were leaked to the whole Minecraft community. _Oh, those were the days..._

Now that Steve has actually met Herobrine, he has realized that all of those things he used to do were simply foolish. Herobrine was an awful Being. He was terrible. Even worse, he didn't even look like the pictures posted all over the News. He was scraggly and skinny. His eyes didn't glow and he could fly. Players said that Herobrine's eyes glowed and that he could only levitate, not fly. Well, they were all wrong. They are so, so wrong. _Fools_.

Steve gave off a big sigh of sadness. He secretly wished that Herobrine would've looked like the Herobrine in the News—the handsome, strong, intimidating god that could destroy a player just with the pierce of his white, glowing eyes.

Steve thought of Herobrine's face as he walked, thinking about his piercing eyes and tanned face, his large arms and strong chest. Why didn't the real Herobrine look like this? Why did he look so different than the one in the News? Steve didn't understand. Steve didn't really want to either. He only wanted to continue fantasizing about meeting the Herobrine on the News.

"Maybe I should pay Notch a visit..." Steve muttered under his breath as he stepped over a jungle log. He should probably report to Notch and tell him about what he's discovered and encountered so far. He should definitely tell Notch about how Herobrine didn't even know what the enchanted stick was upon first glance at it and how Steve ended up hitting him with it. The player from Alpha remembered that Notch said that Herobrine knew what the stick was and that he would probably go to Notch once he saw it.

_Well, that did NOT happen. The complete opposite happened! Why is everything everyone has ever told me wrong? Why is everything I thought I knew about Herobrine wrong? This is hell._

Quite frankly, Steve would be happy to pay Notch a visit. He would do anything to get a break from this World.

Steve made it to the oak forest before he knew it. There were still a few hours of night left as well, enough time for him to get to the ravine. He wasn't that worried about traveling undercover, though. There's no way Herobrine's going to try to come after him again. It's literally impossible.

The forest floor was extremely dark, making Steve squint in effort to see where he was stepping. For all he knew, he could fall into—

Steve screamed as his foot never came into contact with the ground. His body lurched forward and he fell into a dark opening in the forest floor. Air rushed up Steve's shirt as he swirled downwards, twisting and turning desperately in effort to see what was going on and where he was. When Steve gained control over his falling body, he looked below him and realized that he was falling straight into the ravine he had mined in a while ago. He let out another scream and shut his eyes, praying to Notch that his death would be quick...

The miner's legs hit the water first, his back second. His body plunged into the ravine's waterfall, tumbling down the water stream and onto the cold, stone floor. Steve spurted cave water out of his mouth and panted in shock. _I should've died. I should've died... but I didn't._

Steve slowly got to his feet and squinted in the darkness, seeing that he had indeed fallen into the small waterfall that spilled out of the ravine's wall. That was just...lucky.

The miner sighed in distress and ran across the ravine's bottom to the cave in which his bed used to be. He quickly broke the stone wall behind the spot where his bed used to be and found his ore chest, gathering all of the iron, gold, coal, red stone, and diamonds from inside it. He had five diamonds—just enough to make a pickaxe and a sword. Steve would start crafting these materials soon, but first he needed to warm up. The cave water was very cold and he was drenched in it from head to toe. He didn't know how he was going to get warm though, there was no sun out for him to bask in and he didn't have flint and steel to create a fire.

_Wait... Herobrine's lava pool is down here._

Steve shuddered. Was it really a smart idea to get so close to Herobrine's buildings at this time? No, it wasn't a smart idea at all, but at the same time, Herobrine was long gone and Steve really needed to warm up. Steve was the powerful one right now, Herobrine was the weak one. Steve shouldn't be afraid.

The young miner quickly sprinted over to the opposite side of the ravine, going to the cave in which Herobrine's red stone torch trail was...except now the trail was gone.

_Wait, what? That's impossible._

Steve searched for the trail, but it had vanished into thin air. It was if it was never there. The miner's eyes flickered around the dark cave, his head spinning. Steve felt as if he has lost his mind. _But no, that is IMPOSSIBLE. It can't be gone, that is impossible. Herobrine was with ME, he wasn't here. And then when I told him about the red stone torch trail and Nether portal, he didn't even know where they were because he's so forgetful. He had no clue that I was staying in this ravine. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE for them to be gone._

But they were. There was not a single red stone torch in the cave.

_Oh my god...am I losing my mind? Was Herobrine right? Have I lost my mind? Oh my god... What if it was all a dream? What if there really was no red stone torch trail?_

Steve panted crazily, trying his best to calm himself. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't even know what was real or fake at this point. All he knew for sure is that he was in this ravine _now_ and that he was drenched in cold water.

"I don't care if I'm crazy! I'M GOING DOWN THERE NOW." Steve uncontrollably shouted at the World, leaping into the dark cave and down into the depths of the Underworld, following the "invisible" torch trail.

The frantic player ran through the cave system, huffing and puffing like a mad man. Anyone who saw him would think he's crazy for sure. He was running through a dark cave without placing any torches down, he was drenched head to toe in water, and was talking to himself quite loudly. Steve looked crazy.

"See? This is what happens when you mess with me, HEROBRINE," Steve yelled into the cave, his voice echoing off of the walls of the dark tunnel. "I'm starting to ACT LIKE YOU. CRAZY, CARELESS, AND IMPULSIVE, HUH? I LOVE ACTING LIKE THIS! IT FEELS GREAT."

Player Steve came to a screeching haunt when he suddenly saw a faint glow in front of him along a cave wall. He grinned and giggled insanely, sprinting towards the glow as fast as the Ender dragon could fly. His shoes squelched loudly and his wet shirt smacked against his chest rapidly, as if telling him to slow down.

When Steve turned the corner, he was greeted with Herobrine's lava pool and Nether portal. Steve practically rejoiced right on the spot. "AHA! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! It's here!"

The soaked miner quickly ran to the lava pool, laying beside it on the cave floor, the stone floor warm from the heat of the lava. He sighed in comfort and quickly took his shirt off, basking in the warmth of the lava. Oh, how nice it felt. His skin warmed quickly and he closed his eyes in comfort. _I'm not crazy. His stuff is here. I wasn't dreaming. I don't know how the torches disappeared, but I'm not crazy and that's all that matters._

Steve smiled and laid by the lava pool in silence, regaining his sanity. "I'm not crazy. I was right, that torch trail WAS here...at one point in time, that is. But I'm not crazy. I'm not..."

The miner rolled on his side and gazed into the lava pool dreamily. _What if... What if the Herobrine from the News was here? What would he do? Would he try to force me into the Nether with him as well? Would he cuss at me and hurt my arm too?_

Steve's eyelids drooped and his smile turned upside-down. He has been quite pensive since his last encounter with Herobrine. He finally realized how rude and selfish the god was. He didn't care about Steve. Not at all. Not only did he not care for his emotional well-being, but also his physical health.

The player from Alpha wrapped his tan, warm arms around his chest, as if hugging himself for a few moments. Steve just wanted to feel accepted. He just wanted to feel safe...but he never will be around Herobrine. Steve's heart clenched and his long, lost desires of wanting to meet Herobrine evaporated with the burning heat of the lava.

Suddenly, the sound of an enderman teleporting echoed throughout one of the cave's many tunnels. Steve sighed and pushed his face into his arm, still laying on his side. That was the first monster sound he's heard on this World.

Steve listened attentively for the sounds of the enderman, such as it's screaming or footsteps in order to determine how far away it was from him. Interestingly enough, Steve heard no other sounds. It was completely quiet in the cave system again...eerily quiet.

Suddenly the miner's stomach tightened and his heart started beating faster than normal. _Wait. That was a teleportation sound._

Steve slowly lifted his head up and scanned the cave clearing wine was in, his pupils wide with fear. _That might've not been an enderman. That might've been..._

A huge gust of cold wind hit Steve, causing him to give off a surprised cry and roll up into a ball, his bare chest being hit mercilessly with the wind. Steve whispered in discomfort and pure fear as the wind blew against his body, almost freezing his skin right off. He didn't understand where it was coming from or what was happening, but the rapid beating of his heart reminded him that he was still alive.

After a few, long moments, the wind disappeared, leaving Steve in a shuddering mess. He slowly lifted his shaking head and panned his purple eyes around the cave fearfully, his heart beating faster than ever before.

_What was that? I've experienced that like, three times now! Does that mean that he's close to me or something? No...oh Notch, please, no..._

Steve quickly huddled closer to the lava in effort to warm his freezing body again, his teeth chattering. The miner decided to sit up and take his shoes off to warm his feet as well. He sighed in comfort as he did this.

As he sat there, he noticed the sign on the Nether portal again, like last time. He remembered that he had written, "hi" on it with a smiley face as a joke. Steve chuckled a little at remembering this.

The teleportation sound happened again, echoing far off into the many tunnels in the Underworld. Steve sat there in fear, stiff as a fence post, his eyes wandering around helplessly. _So, there were two sounds. That probably means that someone came here, then left, just now. At least I think they did? Oh my god...this is terrifying. What if he's watching me right now...just waiting for the perfect time to pounce and push me into the Nether for some unknown reason._

Steve's cheeks turned pink and he nervously ran a hand down his tan, bare chest. He didn't want Herobrine to see him without a shirt on...

The miner pulled his now warm and dry teal shirt back over his head, fluffing his brown hair around a bit. _Come on Steve, at least make yourself look presentable so you don't look like you're deranged and crazy...which you totally aren't._

He sighed and slowly walked over to the Nether portal, placing his hand on the obsidian blocks longingly, his eyes full of curiosity. He then bent down and knelt on the stone floor, looking at his sign and giggling foolishly, shaking his head side to side. _Oh Steve, you're such a lonely loser..._

But Steve soon realized that the signed looked a bit different than how he left it before. He squinted and got close to it, kneeling a block away from the sign to better help him study its features.

In the middle of the sign, in neat, precise handwriting, were the words: Hello, Steve.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Running Back To Notch

Steve's heart seemed to stop and his legs gave in, his butt slamming into the stone floor painfully.

He read the two-worded sign over and over, as if expecting there to be more. He just didn't understand. He didn't understand how _this_ was possible. For one, Herobrine didn't even know that he was here and two, Herobrine wouldn't have the time to do something like this anyway because he was _with_ Steve like an hour ago.

So now Steve had multiple mysteries on his hands...the disappearance of red stone torch trail and this reply on the Nether portal sign. _My lord...I don't know how much more of this spooky stuff I'm going to be able to take..._

_Notch. I have to speak with him. I can't stand this World any longer. I can't go another night without having my questions answered._

Steve pulled up his World menu and exited the World without thinking twice, his mind racing. He was so sick and tired of living in anxiousness and fear. He just wanted someone with wisdom and insight to talk to him...someone like Notch, his loving creator.

Steve quickly entered the port and key code for Notch's private World and joined, spawning right in Notch's castle next to his big table they left off at last time.

The miner immediately yelled Notch's name, his voice echoing throughout the humongous castle. _There's no way he's here. He must be in town or at a meeting of some sort. There's no way I'm going to be able to reach—_

"Steven?"

The human flinched in surprise and looked down the staircase to the upper floor, seeing Notch standing at the bottom of it. Steve shook his head in disbelief and smiled. "Notch? You're here?"

His creator shrugged and grinned, "I guess so. Is something wrong?"

Steve sighed and looked up at the ceiling, giving off an insane sounding giggle. "Oh man...is something wrong? Oh, there are A LOT of things wrong! There are SO MANY THINGS WRONG I CAN'T EVEN COUNT THEM ALL!"

Notch grimaced and quickly made his way up the staircase, putting his hand on Steve's back. "Well if that's the case then I am very glad that you are here with me now and in one piece. Let's sit at the table and you can tell me everything that is going on."

The miner sighed in comfort at Notch's words and warm hand on his back. For the first time in days Steve felt safe once again. He finally felt as if he could sit down and not have to worry about Herobrine sneaking up behind him and dragging him by his neck to the Nether. _My god...am I just paranoid? No, this fear is real. It makes sense. He would do that to me. I know he would. He has already hurt me and clearly didn't show any sign of remorse whatsoever._

Notch and Steve sat across from each other on Notch's large, red table. Notch entwined his fingers in front of him and bit his lower lip. "Well, go on. Tell me what is troubling you on that World."

Steve parted his lips, taking a moment to examine Notch's posture and facial expression. Notch looked so...worried. Seeing his creator look that worried about their conversation sent off alarm bells inside Steve's head, freaking him out even more than he already was. I mean, Steve didn't look so good himself. His pupils were small and beady, his fingers fumbling and picking at his skin.

Notch stared at player Steve with wide eyes and quietly murmured, "Steve?"

Steve shot his head up and their eyes connected. Notch watched Steve's abnormal behavior only worsen as he looked into the miner's purple eyes.

"Yea? Hehh heh. I'm...sorry. I'm just taking in the fact that I'm supposed to feel safe now. I haven't felt this safe in a while," Steve panted and grinned, scratching his arm repeatedly.

Notch pursed his lips together and leaned forward shakily, placing his hand on top of Steve's, which was still trying to pick at his tan skin. "Please calm down, you are scaring me." Notch spoke honestly, giving the miner a freaked out glance.

Steve finally relaxed his right hand underneath Notch's warm one and smiled oddly widely. "S-Sorry...Notch, I have so many questions. I-I don't know to ask them all and I don't know where to start, but I will tell you now that I am never going back on that World alone."

"...Why is that?" Notch asked softly, squinting at Steve's face in effort to understand what emotions the miner was feeling.

Player Steve's leg moved up and down repeatedly on the stone floor as Notch slowly drew back his hand from Steve's. "It's not safe there. He wants to kill me. He wants to imprison me in the Nether. He does..."

Notch furrowed his eyebrows. "He...talked to you? He told you this?"

Steve chuckled darkly, his wide eyes flickering all around the table. "Heh YES? WELL, NOT REALLY." The player from Alpha suddenly grew quite tense and his neck pulsed. "I DON'T NEED HIM TO TELL ME HE WANTS TO DO. HE'S _SHOWN_ ME HOW HE FEELS ABOUT MY PRESENCE THERE INSTEAD."

Notch flinched in shock at Steve's sudden outburst, opening his mouth in an attempt to say something comforting to his creation.

"AND YOU." Steve pointed at Notch furiously. "YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HE WOULD DO THIS. _YOU SET ME UP_. YOU _WANTED_ ME TO GET CAUGHT! YOU WANTED ME TO GET _DRAGGED TO THE NETHER BY MY DAMN ARM_."

"STEVE ENOUGH." Notch's voice boomed throughout the castle, making Steve fall silent and lower his pointer finger. Enough so, the young miner's teeth were still clenched and his breathing erratic.

The old creator sighed and pushed one of his hands into his face. "For Nethersake Steven...what is wrong with you? In all of these years you have NEVER spoken in that way."

Steve panted and shivered a bit, still staring down Notch as if he was prey.

"What in the Nether happened in that forsaken World? My goodness... Steven, if I wanted to 'set you up' or have you get dragged to the Nether by the Demi-god, I would NOT have given you a legendary, enchanted weapon to protect yourself." Notch mumbled, his voice a little muffled by his hand.

"But you must have known..." Steve shivered and shook his head in disbelief at his creator. "You must've known what he would do to me! You've been dealing with him your WHOLE LIFE! You used to practically be BROTHERS!"

"Steven that was 10 years ago!" Notch bellowed angrily. "Yes, I do know him. I have known him for a long, long time. But I do _NOT_ SEE or 'HANGOUT' with him on a regular basis! I have absolutely no clue what is going through that mind of his!"

The young miner fell back in his chair and put up a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his upcoming cries. "W-Well...maybe it's not your fault. Maybe it's just everyone else's fault...maybe it's my fault...for believing in the News of Minecraftia."

Notch's eyebrows drooped and he slowly stood up, walking over to Steve's chair with outstretched arms. "No, no, no, what is this nonsense? Why are you crying, my boy?" He questioned, gently putting an arm around Steve's back to steady his quivering body. "Steve, I need you to tell me what you mean."

The human gave up trying to stop his cries. He let his tears fall, lowering his hand from his face. Steve squinted in pain and told Notch, "Herobrine isn't anything like the Herobrine I see on the News. The Herobrine on the News must be...p-photoshopped? I don't know..."

Notch chuckled and patted Steve's shoulder. "What makes you say that?"

Steve snorted snot back up his nose and stammered, "H-He's skinny and pale and smelly and short and weak. He's not buff...he's not burly. He looked my size except...skinner and paler. H-He was nothing like the pictures of him on the News."

Notch chuckled again and tipped his head, smiling in amusement. "What? Surely you are exaggerating a bit."

Steve gave off a nervous laugh. "No. Actually, I think I'm under-exaggerating."

His creator rubbed Steve's shoulder and furrowed his eyebrows together once more, pressing his lips together. "Well, how about you tell me some more about him...since you remarkably saw him."

Steve swerved his tear-stain face in the direction of Notch. The miner stared into his creator's eyes and whispered, "remarkably? He was very social. The second day I found him punching down trees in front of my house. Then he followed me out of a mine and stood in front of me. He seemed to try to talk and interact with me as much as he possibly could."

Notch stared into Steve's glassy eyes, shaking his head in confusion. "That is...certainly odd behavior from him."

"Notch, he was punching a tree down in front of my house. With his fist. And it took him at least twenty seconds to do so." Steve spoke softly, staring into Notch's eyes intensely.

The old creator tipped his head again at Steve's words, baffled. "Twenty...seconds?"

"Yes. For the whole tree. Maybe it was more."

Notch gave Steve a weird look that the player couldn't read.

"Well, how about you continue." Notch spoke in a dark, low tone.

"Um...okay..." Steve sighed and wiped some of his tears away with the back of his hand. "I want to let you know that on that day he was punching a tree outside my house, he told me to come to the Nether because he had a surprise for me. He got really close to me and I got scared so I threatened him that I'd use your stick on him. It was really weird though because he didn't know what it was...and you specifically told me that he did know what it was. But he didn't at all. It was also weird because at that moment I realized that he was my height and his voice was scratchy, not low or intimidating. He also didn't produce a god-like glow. There were no wisps around his body like the ones around yours, and his eyes had no light in them. They were just...white. No glow at all. Anyway, he finally left me alone and flew up into the trees, saying that he'd come back to get me or something."

Notch swallowed and panted. "Alright, alright. Let me review this here."

"Mhm." Steve confirmed and looked at Notch readily.

"Alright. So you have now told me numerous times that Herobrine does not look like the Herobrine you are familiar with, correct?"

"Yes."

"You told me he was your height and his voice was not low or powerfully loud?"

"Yes."

"And he did not have a particle effect around his body nor were his eyes luminous."

"That's right."

Notch flashed his eyes to the ground and deeply inhaled, rubbing his chin. "Continue, Steven..."

"Okay...so, once he flew away and left me he—"

"So sorry to interrupt but...flew? Explain what you mean by that." Notch blurted.

Steve gave Notch a look. "W-What do you mean? He can fly."

Notch gave Steve an intense stare and slowly shook his head. "No he cannot, Steve."

The player from Alpha looked crazily at Notch, his eyes widening in confusion. "Ummm...I saw him fly."

"Impossible."

"He flew upwards into the trees and walked away from me in the air."

Notch gave Steve a worried look and bit his bottom lip in thought. Seeing Notch so worried and confused made Steve really freaked out.

"Steven, let me just tell you what exactly Herobrine is. Please tell me if any of his behavior you experienced on that World lines up with what I'm saying. Herobrine is a player, just like you. The only major differences between him and the normal player is the fact that he is part monster—yes, he is a monster-human hybrid. After his treacherous death in lava long ago in Alpha mode, he was revived by the Ender dragon and given special abilities in order to remain alive and stable. His pupils are white due to the fact that his eyes were burnt out in the lava when he died. His eyes produce a glow because they are burning hot. To this day, his eyes are still burning. When the Ender Dragon revived his body, she made his skin as cold as ice in order to combat the burning in his head, resulting in his body temperature being utterly perfect and stable. Due to how cold Herobrine's body temperature is, he produces a cold, particle effect that radiates from him about two blocks. You should see a white, steamy and smokey looking wisp come off of him. He dwells in the Nether frequently because it is very hot there. This comforts his body due to how naturally cold he is. He only comes to the Overworld when he is in the mood to cause trouble, I suspect. Herobrine always had a low sounding voice, even before his death. But now his low voice is more intensified because of his body's revival. The Ender Dragon secretly passed on some of her magic into his body during the process of rebirthing him. Some of the powers he exhibits are teleportation—like enderman, sprinting abnormally fast, brute strength, monster communication, levitation but most certainly NOT flying, an extreme amount of health, entity sensitivity, and the most powerful one of all, in my opinion of course, telepathy—also known as mind-reading."

Steve sat there, looking straight in front of him with a brain-fried look on his face. "Notch, that sounds nothing like the Herobrine I met. Y-You must have this all wrong..."

"No Steve. I am not wrong. I have seen and fought Herobrine. I have touched his arm. I have seen the piercing glow his eyes produce. For goodness sake, I used to be his friend. Something more sinister is happening on that World and I must know more."

Player Steve shook his head and laughed in hopelessness. "There's nothing more to be said. Herobrine must've lost all of his powers or something. This...this isn't right. It can't be..."

Notch rubbed Steve's shoulders and asked softly, "How about we talk about the World itself now, alright? Tell me about structures there, if you saw any."

Steve sighed and relaxed a bit as his creator rubbed his shoulders. "Well, I did see a Nether portal in a cave. It was way down deep in a dark ravine. There was also a redstone torch trail leading to it...and there were no monsters on that World...it was weird."

Notch nodded. "Yes, that sounds right. Monsters are afraid of him."

Steve turned his head to look up at Notch. "Really?" He muttered in fascination.

Notch smiled warmly. "Well I mean, isn't everything?"

They both chuckled a bit and Steve nodded shyly. Notch added, "Nether portals deep in caves and redstone torch trails are also normal. You will see many of those if he is truly roaming around on the same World as you. Good."

"Yes well, there was a really old and dusty sign on the side of the Nether portal. I also saw a four by four lava pool by it too. I guessed it was his bathing place..."

Notch laughed a bit and playfully asked, "did you go in?"

Steve blushed and laughed too. "No! But I did dust off the sign and write 'hi' to him."

The creator chuckled again. "I bet he appreciates that. If the sign was that dusty it must have been sitting on the side of his Nether portal for years."

"Really?" Steve murmured in amazement.

"Oh yes. Those structures of his could be at least seven years old."

"W-Why was there a sign on the side of his Nether portal in the first place?" Steve questioned curiously.

Notch shrugged and pushed his lips together firmly, breaking their eye contact. "He is probably lonely."

Steve looked at the ground. "That's...sad."

Notch grit his teeth a little and nodded slightly. "He is."

The miner rocked forward and backward in his chair a bit, getting slightly anxious at how emotional Notch seemed to be getting. He broke the awkwardness by saying, "He didn't seem to remember that he placed that Nether portal there, though. I told him about how I came across it when he captured me and he told me that I was making it up and going crazy. Does Herobrine have bad memory or something? How old is he?"

Notch looked into Steve's eyes and replied, "He's only one year older than you Steven. That does not seem right. That is not like him."

"Oh...really?" Steve questioned, generally surprised. "I always thought he was like, five years older."

"No, you two are very close in age." Notch replied, looking concerned. "He was created only a year before you in Alpha."

"Well...maybe something messed with his memory or something. Also, remember how I told you that I was feeling strong, cold gusts of wind suddenly hit my body at random times during the day? You told me that only hackers and glitched players create those gusts, but I don't think that's true. I think Herobrine can too. When I was on his World, those cold winds hit me at least three times."

"Steve, what I told you was true, only hackers and glitched entities can produce those gusts. Herobrine is neither." Notch said sternly, examining Steve's face in worry.

"W-Well...well..." Steve stammered, not knowing what to say about that.

"I do not understand. Cold, painful winds only occur in the Overworld when a hacker or a glitch is present in the World...and Herobrine is most certainly not a hacker or a glitch. He is as natural as the dirt beneath our feet." Notch stated.

Steve bit his lower lip. "Well...he also grabbed my parrot that I made friends with in the jungle and choked it and beat it to death in front of me. That's when I used your stick to knock him thousands of blocks away. He was going to kill or knock me out next."

It almost looked like Notch flinched when the human told him this. "He...beat your parrot to death?"

Steve's lower lip quivered at the traumatizing memory. "Yes...he did. Right in front of me."

After Steve finished he looked up at Notch, only to freeze in disturbance. Notch's face was pale. Ghostly pale. It was as if the color had been completely drained from his face. Steve looked at him in fright and parted his lips a bit.

"Steven, I am only going to say this once. I need you to believe what I am about to tell you and I need you to do your best to forget everything you have learned about the Herobrine on that World."

Steve opened his mouth but before he could speak, Notch's eyes meet his and his creator mumbled quietly:

"That's not Herobrine."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Fake, fake!

"Wha-What?" Steve mumbled cluelessly, giving Notch a wide-eyed look.

Notch placed his hand on the Alpha player's back. "That so-called 'Herobrine' you were dealing with the whole time is nothing more than an advanced hacker that I believe is trying to trick you. He tricked both of us into believing he was the real deal." Notch looked away from Steve and glared at the wall. "Ah, I am so foolish! I should have known. It is not like Herobrine to join a random server and go searching for you when he never has in the past..."

Steve stared at the table. "So...there is a real Herobrine that I still haven't seen yet?"

"That is right. That hacker must have tricked you into coming onto that World to capture you. A lot of players have dark fantasies of capturing and enslaving you, Steve. You are a legendary player, you must know. Many hackers could get a profit off of holding you hostage."

_Profit? HOSTAGE?_ Steve shuddered in discomfort at the thought of players wanting to do that to him. "So...so.. Herobrine doesn't want to do that? Herobrine just wants to keep his distance from me?" Steve murmured, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the Herobrine he had been interacting with was a fake.

"I believe so, Steven. In fact, I would go as far as saying that you are safe around him. If he wanted to harm you, he would have done it already on that World. That is one of his home World's." Notch replied gently, rubbing Steve's back in affection.

"So...the real Herobrine _does_ look like the Herobrine I see on the News? He's not skinny or pale or stinky?"

The creator chuckled in amusement. "Yes. The pictures of Herobrine on Minecraftia's News are very, very similar to what he looks like in real life. Of course, they are all drawings, not real photos of him. It is almost impossible to capture a photo of him, let alone see him once in your lifetime."

Steve smiled. "Wow..."

Notch raised an eyebrow at how daydreamy Steve suddenly looked. "Happy about that, Steve? Or what."

"I just...think he's cool. I can't believe I was actually walking around on one of his Worlds." Steve replied sheepishly, looking down at the table.

Notch hummed in thought and grunted, "Well, I don't want to get you too excited, but I think you should know that you have already communicated with him as well."

"What?" Steve questioned, confused.

"You said that you wrote him a 'hi' on the sign that was on his Nether portal, right?" Notch asked and to that Steve nodded. "He must have seen it."

Steve's heart suddenly dropped and he stared in front of him in realization. "Oh my god..."

Notch gave him a worried glance, "What is it?"

"Notch...it all makes sense now...it all makes SENSE!"

The creator flickered his eyes around Steve's face in puzzlement. Steve laughed and gave him a true smile. "There were two Herobrines! I was interacting with two Herobrines! Not just one!"

"Well, yes, that's the—"

"The hacker Herobrine had NO clue what I was talking about when I said I saw his portal because it WASN'T HIS! It was the REAL Herobrine's! I had found the REAL HEROBRINES!" Steve exclaimed in excitement at his conclusions.

"Yes, this is true," Notch agreed.

"And when I went back down to the ravine where the real Herobrine's portal was, I checked the sign again and it said 'hello Steve' and I was originally so confused because I thought that the hacker Herobrine somehow found that portal within like, thirty minutes and signed it. But no! It was the real Herobrine that responded! Oh my gosh...what if... what if the real Herobrine doesn't even know that there is a hacker on that World that's imitating him?" Steve gasped, looking at Notch fearfully.

Notch paused and looked at the ceiling in thought. "Hmm... let's see. It is quite possible that Herobrine does not have a clue what is going on up on the top layer of the World. When Herobrine does come to the Overworld, he is usually looking forward to mining. He is one of the best miners of all time." Notch informed player Steve.

"Really? Wow..." Steve whispered in uncontrollable admiration.

"So, it is possible that he does not know about the hacker. At least we now know that he is aware of you. We also know that he does not seem to have a problem with you or...so it seems."

Steve's stomach got mushy. _Wow... I actually talked to Herobrine. The lord of all monsters. The only Demi-god that exists...and he hasn't harmed me. Wow...I'm the luckiest player in this universe..._ "Notch, what should I do now?" Steve murmured curiously.

The creator sighed a long, deep sigh. "I only know one thing that you should do for certain and that is to not let the hacker Herobrine touch you or mostly importantly _find_ you. You must remain hidden. I am extremely worried about his intentions."

"Alright..." Steve mumbled.

"Steven, you know the cold winds hackers produce? Those winds mean that they are close to you. If you feel another wind hit you, dig yourself a hole and stay in there for as long as you feel you will be safe again to go outside." Notch said. "Understand?"

"Yes. That is really helpful information. But...does Herobrine feel those winds too?" Steve asked, tipping his head.

Notch shrugged. "I don't see why he wouldn't. He is a player just like you and me. Only difference is that he has god-like abilities and slightly different biology."

"Well then, wouldn't Herobrine already know that there's a hacker on his World? He must've felt a cold wind by now." Steve wondered.

"I do not think he has felt one yet, Steve. It gets...ugly...when Herobrine finds hackers." Notch drifted off into silence.

"Does he...not like them or something?" Steve questioned.

Notch nodded and chuckled. "Oh, he hates them. That miner despises them like nothing else. He brutally kills them and destroys their Worlds until nothing is left but dust."

"Oh...he must be too deep in the Underworld to feel the winds then. He must've been mining the whole time while the hacker and I were running around." Steve said, pondering on it. He couldn't believe that the real Herobrine actually _was_ on that World the whole time, just in a different location. This excited Steve. He could finally meet the Herobrine he sees on the News.

Notch examined Steve's piped up facial expression and sighed. "I am guessing that you want to go back now that you know the real Herobrine is there?"

Steve blushed and nodded. "I'm sorry Notch, but I have to. I've been waiting all my life to meet him."

Notch raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean, Steven? You have met him before. He used to follow you around all the time in Alpha—when you were first created and he was just resurrected."

"W-What?" Steve muttered.

"It is true. I used to watch him watch _you_. Perhaps I...never told you about it. I am sorry Steve, I just did not want to scare you during that time because you did not know of him then. I did not want to suddenly inform you that a demon had been watching you build your house and sleep in your bed at night." Notch said and sighed, shaking his head side to side slowly.

"Oh god..." Steve whispered in surprise.

"I am sorry if it is overwhelming." Notch told the young miner sincerely.

Steve shook his head and swallowed. "Why did he watch me?"

"I never knew his reasons. It was after our fallout so we did not talk anymore. I always guessed he did it because he was excited that another player was created. I also thought he watched over you because he did not want you to get hurt or suffer the same fate he did."

"Really? So...he was protecting me?"

Notch smiled. "He has always had a soft spot for you."

"Oh god..." Steve muttered, his face flushing. He couldn't believe it. He was a little frustrated that Notch hadn't told him this stuff earlier, but he understood his reasons. Herobrine used to protect him. He watched Steve build his first house. He was always there. He was always watching him. How...embarrassing.

"I know this information may be touching, but you must remember that Herobrine is a cold, remorseless god. He may have a mysterious weak spot for you, but he slaughters and imprisons other players for his own personal satisfaction. He rules the monster kingdom and rides the ender dragon on her back. He can levitate, break obsidian in only four punches, and read minds. He is absolutely terrifying and not a joke. Players who laugh at him are silenced by pickaxes swung into their throats. Herobrine may avoid talking and fighting you because you are his weaker, gentler counterpart, but that does not mean that you should go walking up to him and expect a hug." Notch told Steve sternly. "He can read your mind, Steven. He can hear every thought and emotion you experience. Even more nerve wracking, he is sensitive to entities. Do you know what that means, Steven?"

Steve gulped and quickly shook his head.

"Sensitivity to entities means that you can feel another entity's presence from a distance. This means that he may already know where you are if you are twenty blocks away from him. He can sense your body temperature and breath."

This kind of freaked out Steve. The young miner fumbled his fingers and bit his lower lip, not knowing what to do or say about that.

Notch noticed Steve's tense face and mumbled, "I am not trying to scare you, Steven. I am just being honest with you about his abilities. If you are truly going back onto his World, you must know everything about him if you somehow run into him."

"Is Herobrine mean?" Steve asked softly, looking up at Notch with big eyes.

"I do not know how to answer that question, Steve. I say this because he kills players mercilessly day and night but has not even touched you once. I have no clue how he will act around you if you come face to face with him...that is why I am a little worried." Notch responded, rubbing his face with his hand in thought.

Steve giggled. "I really doubt he'll be as bad as the hacker Herobrine. He was ugly and filthy. He had no care for me or my time. He was immature and impatient."

"Well, Herobrine has always been a little impatient and I believe that he is a little rude during conversation with others because he tends to abuse his telepathy power. At least, that is what I have heard." Notch replied.

"Does he speak with contractions or does he talk more like you do?" Steve asked. "All my life I've heard at Herobrine speaks with no contractions."

"That is mostly true. He does speak like me. Although, he is a bit younger than I am. He may speak with almost no contractions, but he is far more playful and lively than I am."

Steve smiled. "Wow..."

"You act so fascinated when I tell you these things, Steve. You know, he is very close to you in terms of age. He may look bigger and rough-and-tougher but his spirit is much like yours. These things should not be a surprise to you." Notch said, furrowing his eyebrows down at Steve.

Steve laughed a little and shrugged off Notch's hand. "I know, I'm just a little amazed by him. I always have been. I always thought he was so mysterious and cool."

"_Well, I sure do hope he thinks that you are 'cool' too_." Notch muttered under his breath.

Steve laughed at Notch's comment happily and grinned up at his creator innocently. Notch shook his head in worry at Steve's excitement and walked away from his table, shuffling towards his large chest on the floor a little ways from the table. Steve followed his creator's movements curiously, remaining seated.

"I am going to give you one more item before you go back onto that World..." Notch huffed as he squatted down to rummage through the large chest.

Steve violet eyes lit up with curiosity and he bounded over to Notch's side, kneeling next to him. After searching through his chest for a few more seconds, Notch finally found what he was looking for and pulled the items out of the bottom of the chest to show Steve. He pulled out three potion bottles full of a dark, blue liquid. The color of the potion reminded Steve of invisibility.

"These are invisibility potions," Notch said, confirming Steve's thoughts. "Although, these are special potions. Once you drink one, the invisibility effect will last for an entire day-cycle and will show no visible potion effects. You will be completely invisible. No bubbles surrounding you whatsoever." Notch said, carefully handing them over to Steve.

"Incredible..." Steve murmured, placing them in his inventory.

"I am sure these will come in handy for you if you get yourself in a bad situation." Notch sighed and gave Steve a thoughtful gaze. "Do be careful, Steve. I do not want to lose you."

Steve nodded emotionally and leaned forward to embrace Notch, his creator's warm, wispy particles circling around him. "I will be careful, Notch, I promise. If anything goes wrong I'll come back to you right away."

Notch slowly pulled away from the young miner and gave him a worried look. "Steven, the littlest things in this universe can change a Being's life. It was a nice, sunny day like this when Brine left my castle and died in lava. I was too late to save him. I watched him burn in front of me. The last thing he saw before he melted was me, standing there and watching him. He thought that I was not trying to save him. He thought that I _wanted_ him to die. Now look at this universe, Steven. Now he rules the Underworld and created his own, hellish dimension: the Nether. Now you exist. You were created to protect the Overworld and balance the dark and the light in this universe. Don't you see how fast things can change, Steven? Disaster can strike from the littlest thing. Havoc and mayhem... Steven, I do not want to lose you too." Notch said, his brown eyes full of worry and care.

Steve looked at Notch sadly. "You will never lose me, Notch. Never."

Notch looked at the ground and nodded a few times to himself, his eyes still restless.

"Don't worry Notch, I will come back soon, just as I did today." Steven whispered and closed his eyes, exiting Notch's World and joining Herobrine's once more.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Steve's Return

When player Steve spawned into the Lava World, he found himself standing just a few blocks from Herobrine's Nether portal in the dark cave. Steve couldn't help but squeal under his breath a bit and bounce up and down. Now that he knows literally _everything_ about this World, he doesn't feel as scared. In fact, Steve felt _great_ about being back here. He couldn't wait to interact with the real Herobrine more...but also avoid the hacker Herobrine at the same time.

The young miner already had a plan in his head. He would live down in this ravine because the hacker still didn't know about it. Tonight, Steve will burn cobblestone in his furnace to make smooth stone and cover the top of the ravine with grass and stone to steal it permanently from the Overworld. Once he did this, the hacker Herobrine would have no chance of finding him down here. It was the perfect plan. Steve wanted to start working at night because it's more safe to...and there are no monsters to worry about anyway. _I will not let that disgusting hacker find me. I will be safe and sound down here. I will learn more about Herobrine and I will tell him to kill the hacker. I will destroy that fake Herobrine once and for all._

Steve smiled and walked over to Herobrine's Nether portal, kneeling down to examine the sign. Herobrine had surprisingly neat handwriting. Steve stared at the god's writing longingly and then gently brushed the coal marks away with the back of his hand. He wrote with his coal chunk: Are you still here?

The player from Alpha sighed and slowly rose to his feet. He brushed the dust off of his teal shirt, walking back up the dark cave entrance towards the ravine opening. His posture was so much different now. He walked through the darkness without a care. He didn't have an unknown fear in the back of his mind now. Steve felt calm and knowledgeable.

When Steve reached the ravine, he quickly went over to his chest and crafted some iron armor—covering himself from head to toe in it. Sure it was heavy at times, but it made him feel much safer. _When night comes I should try to collect some coco beans...I need more food. Plus, cookies are nice. _Steve's stomach growled at the thought of them and he swished his tongue around in his mouth hungrily. _Maybe I can give Herobrine a cookie? No, stop it Steve. Cut it out._

The miner snorted at himself as he crafted a diamond sword and a pickaxe. _Giving Herobrine a cookie would not only make me an idiot, but also even more of a lonely loser._

Steve held up his newly crafted diamond sword in pride, watching the edge of the blade glint in the sunlight. It always brought him so much joy to craft a diamond tool because they were so memorizing. He wished he had enough for a chest plate but he only had enough to make a pickaxe along with the sword.

Player Steve stood up from his crafting table with his tools and walked over to the furnace, placing sixteen blocks of cobblestone in it. He would need to use dirt to cover the ravine at the top along with smooth stone.

The young miner looked up at the opening of the ravine, the sunlight peeking in through the slit and shining down on his forehead. _It's not even sunset yet. It's too dangerous to go out when it's this light out, but maybe I can swim up the waterfall and sit on a ledge to cover the opening. I won't have to get out of the ravine to cover it up if I do that._

Steve shrugged and went with his plan, swimming up the cold waterfall until he was only a few blocks under the grassland that lay above the ravine. The miner shivered at how cold and mucky he felt under his soaking-wet armor, immediately looking forward to lying by Herobrine's lava pit after he got his job down. He shook his feet a bit to splash some water out of his boats and then tipped his head upwards, jumping up to place blocks across the ravine's opening.

After only a few minutes, Steve had covered half of the opening, the other half still exposing the ravine in the Overworld. Luckily, he noticed that the sunlight hitting the grass blocks had now turned an orangish-pink color, which meant that the sun had started to set. "Thank heavens...maybe I can walk over to the other ledge to cover this whole thing up now," he muttered to himself quietly.

Player Steve bit his lip as he slowly walked across the one block ledge, trying his best not to look down. He usually wasn't too scared of heights, but this ravine was very dark and cold, making the smallest of his fears worse.

He frantically started placing dirt blocks across the ravine, closing the opening. _Oh come on...just twenty more or so..._

Grass rustled on the top layer of the Overworld, only a few blocks from where Steve stood under his dirt ceiling. The miner clenched his teeth shut and slowly dropped down on all fours, cowering on the ground. _I swear to Notch if that is somehow the hacker—_

A chicken bawked loudly, making Steve jump a mile off the ground and then frown in disappointment at himself.

"Gosh DARN IT." Steve muttered angrily, throwing his head back in foolishness. _Now look at what hacker Herobrine has made me. I'm scared of chickens. CHICKENS._

Steve impatiently placed the rest of his grass and stone blocks along the top of the ravine's opening, closing it completely. Steve smiled in satisfaction as his World became dark, the bottom of the ravine pitch-black. He couldn't even see the bottom of the ravine. He gulped at this a bit in nervousness, but also felt very accomplished and overall safe. Now the hacker had almost no chance of finding him. Steve could continue to talk with the real Herobrine and plan to kill the hacker, hopefully. Notch said that Herobrine hated hackers, so why wouldn't Steve try to inform him about the one roaming around on his World right now?

Player Steve suddenly got a little curious about what was going on in the grassland. Just. _A little peak won't hurt..._ He thought, a little hesitant. _Whatever. I'm just going to dig up a block and poke my head out. It'll be fine._

Steve dug upwards a bit, placing dirt beneath his feet as he went up. He reached the top, grassy block and broke it, cautiously poking his head out from the earth. The night sky was very dark, but the stars shone brightly down on the World, the moon quite bright as well. There were still no monsters to be seen, nor were there any animals. Steve didn't see the chicken he had heard earlier either. Odd.

A very faint breeze rolled through the grass and trees, carrying a sweet, flowery smell into Steve's nose. At least the World smelt clean and untouched instead of polluted by player activity. Then again, probably all of Herobrine's Worlds smell like this because he is almost never on the top layer of the Overworld. He is always underneath in the cave systems.

Steve looked up at the bright stars dreamily, thinking of the Demi-god. _Will I ever actually meet him? Or will I just continue to play on this World on my own?_

The human squinted his eyes shut in hope that he wouldn't be. All his life, Steve has wanted to see the god. He still couldn't believe that for years in Alpha Herobrine watched him. He watched over Steve, he kept him safe in secret. He did this all willingly. He never harmed Steve once, nor made himself known... Steve wondered why Herobrine didn't.

"Are you afraid to show yourself around me because you think I'll be scared of you?" Steve whispered up at the sky, gazing at the stars in thought. "Maybe you're more self-conscious then people say you are..."

He thought it was funny how long he's known Herobrine but has never actually talked to or seen him before. It just feels wrong. Steve felt as if he should have talked to Herobrine in the past when he was first created, or at least met him in person. _I guess Herobrine is just really secretive._ _Or, maybe he's scared of me. He might be scared of interacting with me because of how opposite we are in literally every way._

Steve laughed softly under his breath and smiled calmly. He knew that he was thinking about Herobrine too much, but he couldn't help but wonder about the god.

Suddenly, an extremely bright, white light shone through the forest across from the grassland. Steve tipped his head in confusion at the sudden sight in front of him, mumbling, "what in the world is that?"

The white light lit up the ground, slowly moving out of the forest and onto the grassland. Steve couldn't exactly see the light source, for he was about two-hundred blocks away, but it looked as if the light was coming out of a tree...no, a torch? No, the light was simply there. It didn't look like anything was producing it. It was just...there.

Steve crouched in his hole a little more, knowing that this ominous light source looked like trouble. He wanted to get back in the ravine to go to bed but he was going to be up for a little while anyway because he needed to dry his wet armor and clothes. Spying on the activity going down on the top layer of the World wouldn't be so bad tonight...as long as nothing came too close to him.

The young miner shook his head in disbelief at the mysterious light and scoffed. It was slowly moving around the grassland, slightly in Steve's direction but not completely. Steve just didn't get it. The light was coming out of nowhere! _How many weird things need to happen on this cursed World?!_

Suddenly the light turned and faced towards Steve. The miner's heart dropped and he froze in his dirt hole, only his eyes and head visible in the grassland. The light was indeed coming from something. It was coming from a _thing_. The lights were eyes.

Steve stared at the extremely distant, but piercing white eyes, their glow casting a huge white shadow on the grassland blocks. His heart felt as if it had been squeezed into a fine plump. He felt as if he couldn't breathe. It's Him. It's Herobrine. The real one. The real Herobrine. He's right there. The player from Alpha didn't dare move a muscle in his hidey-hole, he just continued to stare at the infamous demon, his purple eyes the size of moons. _Oh my god what do I do? What do I do?_

Player Steve felt so relaxed when thinking about Herobrine, but totally terrified when actually seeing him. Or, a part of him. He couldn't see anything else in the dark World, he could only see two extremely luminous white eyes. Even so, just seeing Herobrine's eyes was enough to petrify Steve.

The god's eyes slowly swerved around the grassland for a bit, as if looking for something. Steve shivered in horror. _Is he looking...for me? Does he sense me? Does he know I'm hiding somewhere?_

Before Steve could finish his panicked thoughts, Herobrine RAN across the grassland biome in a diagonal direction, making headway for the trees about a hundred blocks away from Steve.

Steve screamed but stifled it quickly as the demon covered fifty blocks in only a matter of seconds, the extreme glow of his eyes blurring the white light that surrounded him due to how fast he was moving. Steve shivered and whimpered in fright, panting insanely as he watched the Underworld god zoom out of sight, the light of his eyes flashing in the trees only a little ways from Steve.

Steve screamed in his mouth again and frantically dug up the dirt below him, digging down into the ravine again and placing the dirt back up above his head to seal him from the top layer of the World. Steve panted like a madman and slid down the waterfall, his iron armor filling with even more water than before.

_He was so fast. He was SO fast. HE RAN SO FAST._

The miner's feet squelched as he raced across the ravine's stone floor, running directly into his small clearing that he had made in the cave wall to sleep at night. Steve shrieked in fright at nothing and slammed the door behind him, placing cobblestone down in front of it, blocking himself in his bedroom. He panted and ripped off his armor, shirt, and pants, throwing them in a heaping pile in the corner. Still panting with a wild look in his eyes, Steve jumped into his bed and yanked the red blankets over his head, crying out in pure terror.

_That was unreal! The way he ran was UNREAL! That...that should be impossible! Oh my gosh..._ Steve whimpered in his blankets. Notch wasn't lying when he told Steve that Herobrine could sprint abnormally fast...but Steve had NO clue that THAT was how fast Herobrine could sprint. That was incredible. Steve was terrified but amazed by it.

The Alpha player buried his tan face in his pillow, inhaling his scent desperately in an attempt to comfort himself. He knew he needed to calm down, he was just unsure how to. Herobrine has god-like traits, this is well known. Steve would need to get used to them if he is going to stay on this World. If the younger miner ever did comfort the demon Steve wanted to make sure that he'd stand his ground, not crumple into a ball and cry under the god's gaze.

_Pull yourself together Steve. You used to want to see him, you used to want to see him exercise his powers in front of you. Whatever happened to feeling chillaxed about that? It's alright, he won't hurt you. Remember this...he won't...I know he won't..._

Steve scrunched his face up in his pillow, unsure if his thoughts were true. What if Herobrine really was a big, heartless murderer? What if he always wished to kill Steve in secret? No, that can't be true. He responded to Steve's message on the sign passively, not showing any sort of interest in frightening Steve. But even now, Steve thought that was quite peculiar of the god.

"If you want to kill me, why haven't you?" Steve whimpered in his pillow, clutching his red blankets tightly. "You haven't killed me yet because you don't want to, right?"

A cold gust of wind blew through Steve's bedroom, as if answering his questions. The miner shivered and held his blankets tightly to his body, burying his face in his pillow more as the cold wind swept across the whole ravine. _The hacker Herobrine is close. Thank goodness I was able to cover the ravine's opening._

The wind left after a few seconds like always, leaving Steve wet and now cold in his bed. He shivered in discomfort under his blankets, not even his blanket warming him up. He longed to lay next to Herobrine's lava pit by his Nether portal, but that seemed like a bad idea. With the hacker running around and quite frankly Herobrine himself, Steve felt unsafe about stepping out of his enclosed bed area. Even with Herobrine being out and about, Steve weighed his decisions and concluded that sleeping with cold, wet clothes on was worse than being seen by Herobrine. The god wouldn't do anything to him anyway...he hoped.

The human gulped, slowly peeling his red blankets off of his soaked, shivering body. Steve grabbed his wet shirt and pants that he had thrown into the corner and threw them over his shoulder, mining the cobblestone he placed in front of his door and then grabbing his iron armor just to let it drag on the stone floor behind him in laziness.

The cold and uncomfortable miner hobbled across the bottom of the ravine, slowly making his way down the dark cave entrance across the way. His teeth chattered rapidly in the dark, the only sounds being heard throughout the cave system were his sluggish footsteps and growling stomach. Steve felt like a mess once more. Wet, cold, hungry...it just couldn't get worse. _Well, I mean, it definitely could._

Steve sighed relief once he turned the cave's corner and the lava pit and Nether portal came into view. _Does Herobrine know that I lay by his lava pit frequently to warm myself? _Steve hummed in thought and quickly shuffled over to the lava pool, arranging his wet armor around the sides of the pool to dry. _I really hope he doesn't mind._

Player Steve dropped to his knees and immediately sprawled out on the warm stone by the lava, giving off a small moan in bliss. The lava's heat worked like magic on Steve's body, sending him into a state of drowsiness. The young miner's skin dried almost instantly, the wet cloth in his undershorts warming up quickly. His stomach growled continuously but the warmth of the lava felt too nice for him to care.

Steve's vibrant purple eyes fluttered open and close for a few seconds in relaxation, his pink lips parting slightly as he tilted his head to the side. He was an attractive adventurer.

Even he thought so.

Steve squinted at the sign that lay on the side of the Nether portal, trying to read the words that were on it. Did it change? Did Herobrine respond to him? Curiosity out-powered Steve's desire to stay by the lava so he slowly crawled forward on the cave floor towards the portal.

The sign read: Maybe.

Steve smiled. _Never thought you were a tease._

The player from Alpha ran his hand over Herobrine's neat writing, smudging it a bit. Oh, how Steve longed to meet him...even though he was still extremely frightened by everything about him. But...what would he do? He wouldn't do anything, Steve assumed. He could kill Steve right now if he'd like to. Nothing is stopping him. Notch isn't here to save the day and Alex is far, far away in a different World. Herobrine could kill Steve easily at any time he'd like.

The miner licked his lips nervously and rubbed the sign with the back of his hand to erase Herobrine's dark writing. He picked up his coal chunk and stared at the sign shyly. He had so much he wanted to say to him...but he was too embarrassed to write any of it down.

After a few moments of simply sitting there, Steve finally mustered the courage to write: I would like to talk to you about something.

Steve's hand shook a bit as he wrote it down, trying his best to make his handwriting look as neat as possible. _Oh for the love of—now he's got me trying to be "mr. perfect" for him._ The young miner shook his head in stupidity and blushed a bit in frustration at himself. He slowly crawled back towards the lava with red cheeks, glaring down at the ground with a flushed face. He grabbed his now dry, teal shirt and pulled it over his head, sighing as the warm cloth brushed against his bare chest. His pants were now dry as well so he proceeded to put them on himself. Once he was clothed, he laid back on the stone once more next to the lava pit, basking in its warmth.

A teleportation sound effect echoed in the distance, it's sound reverberating through the cave system to Steve's right. The Overworld player instinctively whipped his head to the right where the sound came from. The two cave tunnels to the right were extremely dark, winding down into the earth and out of sight. Steve immediately freaked out, his breath quickening by the second.

_Calm down Steve. CALM DOWN. You asked for this! You literally asked!_ Steve just freaked out more and whimpered, jumping to his feet and grabbing his armor quickly. _WAIT_. The miner's eyes lit up in remembrance. Notch had given him three special invisibility potions in which he would practically disappear from the World upon drinking them. _Yes! I will use one of these. This will make me feel safer...I can do this. I can do this._

Steve took out one of the dark blue potions from his inventory and popped off the lid, chugging it quickly. The potion's acidic, sour taste burned his tongue and he squinted his eyes and disgust, doing his best to gulp it down as quickly as possible. After only a few seconds, he had finished drinking the potion and started to watch the invisibility effect set in. Soon player Steve couldn't see his arms or legs.

The young miner set his armor down carefully behind the Nether portal, hoping that Herobrine would think that he went in if he ever saw it.

Steve bit his lower lip and slowly started tiptoeing into the dark tunnel to his right where the teleportation sound came from. Even being invisible and all, Steve was sweating profusely in fear. He wanted to see Herobrine so badly, but he was terrified as hell.

The human player froze in his tracks as he suddenly heard loud, heavy footsteps echo throughout the deep cave. He shrieked a bit under his breath, forcing himself to keep moving in the direction of the footsteps, but they had stopped. It was as if the thing that was producing the footsteps had only taken two steps forward then stopped. This terrified Steve but he continued edging his way along the cave wall, going deeper and deeper into the dark tunnel.

The heavy footsteps started up again, sounding EXTREMELY close. Steve gulped and started to tremble, his legs shaking as he snuck on through the cave. Steve swore that the footsteps were coming from just around the corner, for they were so loud and so clear.

And once again, the footsteps stopped. Steve froze and held his breath. _Oh my god. It's him. It's him. I know it is. He's right behind the corner. I know he is. Oh my god. Does he know I'm here too? Why is he not moving? Oh Notch, help me..._

It is true that Steve was scared, but he was also extremely excited, for his arms were shaking in anticipation. The footsteps had completely stopped though, the cave eerily silent. Steve could hear his own breath, as well as the beating of his racing heart. The miner could feel the tension between him and the Underworld god, that is...if it really was him around the corner.

One footstep suddenly sounded from behind the cave wall and a dim, white glow slowly covered the cave floor, the light crawling upwards towards Steve from around the corner. Steve screamed mentally. _YEP. THAT DEFINITELY IS HIM_. Another footstep sounded and the light on the floor became brighter, crawling along the cave's walls. Steve slowly started to back up, scooting his butt along the dark wall in terror. _He must know I'm here. Why else would he be moving so cautiously? Oh my god. He knows. He knows. He knows—_

Steve's thoughts got interrupted when suddenly a redstone torch was placed down on the cave floor right in front of the dark corner. Player Steve froze and stared at it insanely, just waiting for Herobrine to leap out from behind the corner or do something threatening.

The atmosphere was so quiet and intense that Steve felt as if he was having a heart attack. Everything was silent. The redstone torch flickered a bit and casted blood-red shadows among the cave walls, making Steve feel even more terrified of it than the deadly silence.

The footsteps picked up again, except they walked in the opposite direction, going back down into the dark tunnel. Steve let out a loud exhale that he had been holding in for practically minutes. The heavy footsteps became softer and softer as they walked away from where Steve was, leaving Steve raffled but also a bit relieved. The odd tension that was between them was almost too much for the poor human to handle.

After catching his breath, Steve finally peeked around the corner, seeing that Herobrine's glowing eyes were long gone. _He must've went back down into the cave to avoid scaring me or something...was he able to sense my fear? Notch did say that he has telepathy. Oh god...that was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me in my life. I was THIS close to him. THIS CLOSE! He was just right here! Behind this little gosh-forsaken stone wall!_

Player Steve bent down, picking up the redstone torch the god had placed in awe but also fear. _I can't believe it...he actually placed this in front of me. I-I have to have it._ Steve thought almost obsessively, gripping the torch nervously. The cave became almost pitch-black again as Steve took it, making Steve chew the inside of his cheek in discomfort. He quickly started shuffling out of the cave towards the distant glow of the lava pit and Nether portal, desperate to be in the light once more.

The sound of teleportation broke the silence in the cave's silence once more, causing Steve to freeze in surprise. He couldn't tell where the teleportation sound came from but it sounded close. _Well, the best option I have is to get to the lava pool so I can see better._ With that thought, Steve started to sprint out of the dark cave, panting frantically in worry that Herobrine was behind him or something.

The teleportation sound occurred again, this time noticeably close to Steve. The young miner yelped out loud and quickly turned the dark corner, the lava pool and portal sitting in front of him. He sighed in relief and ran to the lava pool, pushing his back against the Nether portal so he could overlook all the branches of cave systems. The miner panted and wiped his forehead that was now covered with sweat, sighing in relief that he had made it back to where this whole situation started.

Steve leaned back to look behind the Nether portal for his armor but...it was gone. His armor had disappeared. Steve's pupils shrank in horror. _He...took my armor._

The sign hadn't changed at all. Nothing was different except for the fact that Steve's iron armor was gone. The human grinned insanely and looked down at the ground in fright. He took my armor. _That's...not worrying at all. Not at all. I'm fine! I'm FINE._

The Overworld player gulped and stood up very timidly, murmuring a weak, "hello?"

Of course there was no response. Just the same deadly silence. Steve's stomach seemed to turn upside down at how unsettled he was.

"I-I need my armor..." Steve mumbled quite softly again, his voice failing him. He knew that Herobrine couldn't see him at all, but at least the god could hear him.

Suddenly Steve heard the sound of armor being shaken teasingly in one of the dark caves a little to his left. The young miner shook his head in fear and licked his suddenly chapped lips, whispering, "please don't play games with me..."

After he spoke, it sounded as if his armor had been dropped from a small height. Steve's eyes widened in surprise. _Did he...actually listen to me?_ No further sounds were heard after the last one so Steve started to slowly walk into the dark cave, scanning the dark cave floor in an attempt to find his armor. After only a few steps into the cave, Steve saw his iron armor lying in a pile in a dark corner. He gulped and shakily bent down to retrieve it, his fingers fumbling nervously along the iron creases in his chest plate.

"Thank you..." Steve muttered under his breath softly, accidentally letting a small whimper escape from his pursed lips. Once he got all of his armor in his hands, the Overworld player stood up, knees shaking as he looked around the dark tunnel. "C-Can I say thank you?"

Silence.

Another nervous whimper escaped Steve's lips and he cursed at himself mentally. "Please?" He murmured, looking around the dark tunnel nervously but also hopefully.

The silence was starting to freak out Steve so he started to slowly back up towards the light from the lava pool and Nether portal again. "O-Okay..." he mumbled softly, biting his lip. Steve's face almost looked sad as backed away from the dark tunnel, his hands holding his armor tightly to his chest. _It's fine...I'd probably be too freaked out if he did reveal himself to me anyway..._

Steve slowly made his way back into the light of the lava pool, clutching his items thankfully. He couldn't believe that the Underworld god listened to him. Maybe the legend is true... Maybe Herobrine really does have a soft spot for him...

Suddenly a bright, white glow appeared in between Steve's legs, casting a white shadow in front of the young miner. Steve froze in his tracks, realizing the white light was coming from behind him. _Oh no. Herobrine knows exactly where I am. He's behind me. He's standing right behind me. He can sense my body heat and emotions...he's pinpointed me out. Oh god. This invisibility potion does nothing. He's standing right behind me._

Steve was too afraid to turn around. The glow of Herobrine's eyes were so bright, so intense. The white shadows in front of Steve stretched for several blocks. The human was petrified.

The god's heavy footsteps were heard in Steve's ear as the god got closer to Steve's back. The miner swallowed and closed his eyes, swearing that Herobrine was only two or three blocks from him. _Oh my god... Calm down Steve calm down! You literally asked for this crap!_

A cold draft fell over Steve, seeming to tangle itself around his limbs and clothes. Steve didn't dare open his eyes, he was far too overwhelmed by this encounter. The intensity of the cold wisps only got worse as Herobrine took another step closer to the Overworld player, his wispy, foggy particles floating around Steve's body. The young miner finally cracked opened his eyes and observed the strange, gray particles circling around him. The adventurer gasped a little, nipping the inside of his cheek. _He's going to kill me. He's going to grab me or—_

Steve's thoughts disappeared as he felt a cold exhale of air near the top of his head ruffle his already messy hair. Herobrine was taller than him. The adventurer suddenly blushed when he realized how close the god was to him. _O-Oh! I can tell him thank you now since he's here with me..._

"T-Thank you for listening to me." Steve murmured softly. "This potion was supposed to hide me from you but...it doesn't seem to be working very well..." Steve giggled quietly, his lips curving up into a small smile.

Player Steve sighed and inhaled the cold air around him, feeling a little chilled by it. He started to shiver a little but did his very best to hide his discomfort in efforts to keep Herobrine close to him. It must've not worked because suddenly the cold draft that had seemed to weave itself around Steve's body faded as he heard Herobrine take a few steps backwards, his heavy feet causing the cave floor to vibrate a little. Steve's eyebrows drooped a little in shame. "No, I'm sorry. I'm not that cold, you don't bother me..."

Right after he said that, Steve heard a loud teleportation sound and then peeked over his shoulder, seeing that Herobrine was gone.

Steve sighed and held his armor weakly, the corners of his mouth down turning in disappointment. He wished he could've been around Herobrine for just a little longer. _Herobrine, I didn't mean to offend you. I promise that what I'm thinking is true. If you can hear me, I'm sorry if I came across as rude._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Dreaming About You

The Overworld player made it back to his small bedroom slowly, dragging his feet and armor in the dark ravine. He was very tired, the heat from the lava and the mentally exhausting encounter with the Nether lord totaling his ability to stay awake.

Steve threw his armor in the corner of his bedroom, closing his door and plopping down on his red bed, his eyelids drooping heavily. His stomach still growled a bit but the human didn't care about his appetite too much...all he wanted now was to fall asleep and start a new day...

"_Of course he does not know about him yet. He's too young in this universe to be burdened by such knowledge."_

"_With all do respect Notch, I think I'd be worse if we DIDN'T tell him. If Steven randomly stumbles into him, he'll become frightened and may develop even worse paranoia and anxiety than he has now."_

"_Jeb I will not tell him. Steven must not know about Brine."_

"_Oh, did you hear? The monsters are calling him 'hero Brine' now."_

"_What?"_

"_Yes. It's their way of showing their respect to him, I believe. They call him their hero."_

"_Ridiculous..."_

_Steve suddenly woke up in his old Alpha house, the first house he ever created. A warm breeze swept through the bright green trees and an old, ancient smell lingered in the air. Steve inhaled it desperately, missing the nostalgic smell and aesthetic of the Alpha days._

_When Steve ran a hand through his messy, fluffy brown hair he noticed Herobrine's face in his window. He yelped in shock and jolted out of his bed, hoping to his feet anxiously. Herobrine continued staring at Steve_

_through his window, not moving._

"_E-Excuse me?" Steve questioned, grabbing his iron sword instinctively._

_Herobrine saw Steve's sword and jolted away from Steve's window, running into the green forest at an insanely fast pace. Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion at this and quickly grabbed some cobblestone from his chest, replacing all of his windows with stone._

"_Try that," Steve muttered under his breath teasingly, gritting his teeth in nervousness._

_Suddenly it was night again and Steve lay down in his bed, closing his sore eyes and relaxing his fatigued body that had been mining all day. When he flickered his eyes open once more he saw Herobrine standing outside his wooden door, looking around the house for monsters. Steve was confused but closed his eyes again, not caring._

_Herobrine walked in circles around Steve's house for a few hours, making sure Steve was sleeping alright and no monsters or creators were nearby to disrupt him._

_At one point during the night Herobrine slowly opened Steve's door and walked over to the side of Steve's bed, watching him sleep. He wasn't trying to be creepy, but it was very. He only wanted to look at Steve's face to see if he had similar features to those of his. Herobrine found out that Steve looked much like him except shorter, cuter, and less-scarred. Steve had long eyelashes and soft skin. His skin held almost no scars at the time. Herobrine vowed to himself to make sure Steve's skin would be kept this way for a long, long time. He didn't want Steve to be scarred. He didn't want Steve to get hurt like that. The thought of seeing the new Overworld player in pain made Herobrine anxious._

_Steve would roll around in his bed a lot during the night because he had trouble sleeping in the Alpha days. He was scared of the World he lived in and was extremely lonely. He felt cold at night and frightened of the monsters that roamed outside his house. This is why Herobrine knew that his job was important. He needed to make sure the new player felt comfortable in the World so he wouldn't lose his sanity._

_The newly named Herobrine gently grabbed a corner of Steve's blanket and dragged it back over Steve's shoulder, covering the younger miner in blankets once more. Herobrine smiled and finally felt as if he could leave for the night. Now that he had been revived by the ender dragon and made half-monster, he didn't like to sleep as much. In fact, he rarely ever did. Lately Herobrine has been working on creating a different dimension that he could isolate himself in. He wanted to escape the Overworld for good. He knew he didn't belong in the Overworld any longer...and he was THIS close to accomplishing this desire of his._

_Whenever Steven would wake up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare, Herobrine would immediately race into the lush forest behind his house and stand behind a tree, peering into Steve's window cautiously to make sure he was alright. Whenever Steve would almost fall into lava while mining, Herobrine would teleport himself behind Steve just in time to place down a stone block over the lava. Whenever Steve got lonely or depressed, Herobrine would create glowstone towers and place down redstone torch trails to keep the curiosity and excitement alive in the adventurer. Herobrine cared for Steve. He cared for him like no other._

_But as time passed by, Steven became more experienced and independent. He didn't need Herobrine's watchful eyes secretly protecting him any longer. Once Herobrine saw this, he left the Overworld. His new dimension, the Nether, is where he stayed for years. When Steven accidentally discovered how to make a portal to it, Herobrine was very frustrated with him, for he showed the entire player population how to make a Nether portal as well._

_In the first months of players knowing how to get to the Nether, every player who entered was slaughtered by Herobrine or kept alive and tortured in his Nether fortresses. Herobrine assigned monsters to guard his Nether fortresses in efforts to keep them more protected from Overworld intruders, but the players just kept coming._

_Herobrine thought about talking to Steve about how rude and intrusive his actions were, but he could never muster up the courage too. He was afraid that Steven would be afraid of him. This is why he keeps his distance from the younger miner. He doesn't want to scare him away like he does with everyone else. Even though he had been the one secretly protecting Steven for years, Herobrine thought that telling him about his existence was a bad idea._

"_**He would never accept me as who I am. He would run away from me, cower in a dirt hole...almost kill himself just to get away from me. I know this for certain." - Herobrine, 2012**_

Steve woke up in his red bed, his body jolting him awake right as his dream ended. The miner panted, startled at his dream. _What in the world did I just dream about? That...didn't feel like a dream. It felt too real._

Steve squinted at the stone wall. _Was it...real?_

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. The miner sighed, knowing that he really had to get some food as soon as possible. His craving for cookies hadn't gone away, so he decided that getting some coco beans and maybe a few meats from the Overworld would be his main goal for today. Of course, along with that goal, remaining hidden was just as important.

Steve slowly rose from his red blankets, stretching and yawning comfortably. Part of him wished to just stay in his bed all day, but he knew that _that_ wasn't a very good use of his time on this World. Plus, what would Herobrine think of it? Would he think that Steve was lazy and careless?

_Oh for god's sake Steve STOP thinking about HEROBRINE!_ The miner cursed under his breath and shook his head in frustration at himself. He needed to stop thinking so much about Herobrine...for it was distracting him. Even though his encounter with the god last night was rather exciting, he needed to control his excitement and eagerness to meet him once again. _You know, there are better things to do then to just fantasize about meeting a big, terrifying, monster guy that you're too scared to meet anyway._

Steve chuckled under his breath. _Are there?_

The Overworld player slowly pushed his door open, walking over to his large chest full of blocks. He grabbed a stack of dirt just in case he would need to build up to reach some coco beans from a tree. Once he grabbed some dirt, he started trotting over to the ravine's waterfall, gritting his teeth in remembrance at how cold the water is.

Steve held his breath and plunged into the icy waterfall, swimming up it as fast as he could. His legs swished in the water rapidly, shooting him up the stream until he reached the top. Steve dug the grass blocks above his head to get to the Overworld, his large layer of stone and dirt covering the ravine entirely.

He hesitated a bit before placing dirt blocks under his feet to raise him up the grassland, but once the sun beat down on his face Steve felt much happier. He had missed the sun. If Steve had it his way, he would build a huge house in the grassland with a pool right outside his door. He would bask in his pool for hours upon hours...

_Maybe I could have a pool party with Herobrine?_

"Stop it!" Steve cried to himself. _You're worse than the fan girls!_

The human cursed under his breath the whole way towards the inner part of the jungle to the right of the ravine, his wild eyes scanning his surroundings nervously. Vines spiraled down the humongous trees and onto the leafy jungle floor, making it quite difficult for Steve to maneuver his way around. Luckily, due to the size and density of this jungle, there were many coco beans growing from the trees—ripe and ready to be picked. Steve sighed in relief as he saw this. It wouldn't be so hard to get coco beans after all. They were practically everywhere.

Player Steve ducked below a tree, gathering the coco beans from its trunk. Even though the jungle was quite dense and almost completely sealed from the sky, he still needed to be careful and move undercover as much as possible. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the hacker Herobrine got him. He'd probably be kidnapped and taken to the Nether...maybe he'd never be found by anyone.

Steve shivered at this possibility. _What does he even want from me? I don't understand what he could possibly want to do with me._

Steve walked around on the jungle floor, going over to low-lying trees to get their coco beans. After only a few minutes, Steve had over thirty beans. This was more than enough to make him a few cookies...and some for Herobrine. Steve blushed and giggled. _No way I could give Herobrine a cookie. I'd be way too embarrassed to do something like that._

The miner bit his lip. _Or would I? I could just leave one by his Nether portal..._

A warm, relaxing wind blew through the trees, rustling their leaves in the sun. Steve lost his train of thoughts as he glanced up at the World's beauty. The wind ruffled his hair and cooled his chest, making Steve feel relaxed for once in his life on this World.

He still had two invisibility potions left and the enchanted stick. If the hacker did find him, Steve could easily send him flying away again. In theory, Steve didn't have much to worry about. And since the real Herobrine doesn't seem interested in harming him at all...Steve could call his name and bring him over to the hacker. _Would that actually work, though? If I called for Herobrine, would he come?_

For some reason Steve knew that it would. H_e _felt confident that Herobrine would listen.

The young miner slowly started hiking his way up the jungly hill towards the ravine that lay on the other side of it. Steve guiltily punched down a tree and made a crafting table right outside his hole that led down into the ravine, not wanting to go back down into its dark, gloomy depths. He missed the sun and the wind very much. Just seeing the leaves on the trees blow in the cool wind made him feel one-hundred percent better. Maybe Herobrine was made to dwell in the dark but Steve was not. He could never _willingly_ live in a cave. He always creates medium-sized wooden houses in grasslands with lots of windows to let the sunshine come in, as well as...eyes, he supposed. It would've been easy to spy on him during the Alpha days. Herobrine would've been able to see the entire inside of his house just by standing outside one of his large windows.

_Perhaps I'm a little foolish_. Steve thought, sitting against a tree and making some cookies. _Then again, I didn't know he existed._

Steve held up his newly made cookie to his dry lips. His stomach growled furiously as he slowly bit into it, the coco cookie bits crumbling in his mouth. Steve's eyes rolled dramatically and he moaned in satisfaction. _Thank god. I felt as if I was going to die sitting here one more second with no food in my mouth._

After only a few moments Steve had devoured the cookie and was reaching for a second. He shoved the cookie into his mouth and swallowed quickly, grabbing two more before finally feeling full.

Steve flopped back against the tree lazily, whimpering in happiness. _Remaining two cookies are for Herobrine..._ He closed his eyes and smiled. _You're the worst. What's wrong with you? You've never been so obsessed with someone in your life. Not even when you first met Alex._ _What's gotten into you?_

The young miner clutched the last two cookies shyly, refusing to answer his own question. He just wanted Herobrine to like him and be interested in him...that's all. Nothing weird about that, right?

Steve slowly rose to his feet, breaking his crafting table to cover his tracks. Before heading back down into the ravine, the curious miner wanted to check out the forest he had seen Herobrine run into last night. What if there were structures Herobrine had placed in the forest? What if he had a base over there or something cool? Steve couldn't resist checking the dark forest out. It wasn't far from the ravine either...only a hundred blocks or so.

Instead of running directly across the open grassland to get to the dark forest, Steve decided to travel along the outskirts of the jungle so he was more protected from plain sight. He moved clumsily through the vines and leaves, tripping over the growth along the jungle floor as he persisted onwards. The sun was starting to get a little low in the sky, signaling to the Overworld player that sunset would be coming soon. Upon realizing this, he panicked a bit and picked up his pace, trudging through the leafy biome.

Leaves smacked Steve in the face and he batted them off the trees in frustration, sneering angrily. Jungles were such a pain in the butt for the adventurer. He didn't understand how some players could live in them.

After madly swinging his arms around, the jungle leaves suddenly disappeared and he stumbled into a dark oak tree, the side of his cheek smashing into the log as he fell.

"Owe for Notch's sake!" Steve shouted uncontrollably, clutching the side of his face on the ground. _Well, at least I'm out of that stupid jungle..._

The young miner shakily rose to his feet again, hissing and clutching his face in pain. Dark oak trees towered over his head, hardly allowing any light to come through their leaves. The forest was indeed dark and slightly cold, making Steve shake a little at first. At the same time, Steve shook in thrill. _This is totally a Herobrine forest. This place reeks of his presence._

Player Steve bunny hopped into the forest a little, still holding a hand to his cheek. The cold, dark forest was very quiet. No animals lived here. The dark shadows of the tree tops covered the ground that consisted of grass and gravel, making everything feel even more ominous.

After cautiously walking into the forest for a bit, Steve stopped when he came face to face with an empty sign that had been placed on the ground. The human tipped his head and bent down, examining the sign. It was old. Steve ran a hand around it's edges. They were dull and worn out. This sign was much like the sign on the Nether portal. It has been here for years.

Steve stood up slowly, looking down at the sign with big eyes. He hated the way it looked so creepy just sitting there on the ground.

_Oh! I know how to make this situation so much better... _Steve whipped out his last two cookies, placing them right next to the sign on the ground. Steve giggled at how silly it looked. _It feels like a sin to put cookies next to an abandoned Herobrine structure. It makes everything look so light-hearted when it really isn't._

The young miner smiled shyly and put his arms behind his back, walking onwards into the dark forest. What else was there in here for him to discover? Steve was more excited than fearful. He was starting to become less and less scared of the Demi-god without realizing.

Not even twenty blocks from the sign there was a dirt pyramid. Steve stared at it in wonder. _I've heard legends about him creating dirt and sand pyramids...but I always thought those legends were fake. I guess they aren't after all._

Steve slowly walked up to the small pyramid, curiously digging into it to see if there was anything underneath it. There was, but it was only a singular redstone torch. No treasure or goodies. Steve still bolted forward and snatched the redstone torch off the ground, holding it to his chest greedily. This was his second Herobrine torch he could add to his collection. Not that he should be taking Herobrine's stuff...

"Heh heh." Steve awkwardly laughed, not bothering to fix the hole in the pyramid he had created. He thought that Herobrine might be happy to see that Steve had discovered his old structures. _I mean, is there a real reason why Herobrine creates these builds and places signs and torches everywhere? I wonder why he does these things. I want to know the real reason why...not just Notch saying that "he's lonely."_

_I mean, that's probably true... I would be too if I didn't have a single friend in this universe._ That thought hit Steve hard. _Herobrine doesn't have a single friend. He's all by himself. Well, he communicates to monsters and goes on patrols with them in his fortresses...but, he doesn't have any player friends. None._

Steve looked down at his shoes sadly. _Does he want to be my friend? Does he want me as a friend? Is that why he has attacked every player in Minecraftia but me?_

"I'll be your friend, Herobrine." Steve whispered into the cold air, glancing around the dark woods, as if expecting him to come out. "I left you cookies..."

Of course all Steve was greeted with was silence, but he still smiled at his own words. If Steve was truly going to be Herobrine's friend, he would need to get over his fear of the Underworld god. He needed to be calm around him and not run away or shiver in fright before him. That was probably the reason why Herobrine left him last time. Steve was showing noticeable signs of discomfort in his voice and in his mind...which Herobrine caught onto. Now Steve felt kind of bad for acting the way he did. He probably just made the demon's self-consciousness worse. He probably made Herobrine feel even more lonely and sad that his counterpart and only liked player in this universe pushed him away.

Steve shook his head in disapproval and sighed, turning around to head back out of the shadowy forest. _I'm such a wimp. I'm so impolite. He LITERALLY protected me all throughout my childhood days in Alpha and all I do is push him away when he finally tries to meet me after all of these years of him never harming or disturbing me once? What is WRONG with me? _Steve cursed at himself softly and quickly stomped out of the forest, the dark grassland coming into his view. It was past sunset now, the sun was almost completely gone. _I will wait for him tonight. I will be a good boy and sit by his Nether portal and WAIT. And when he does come, I'll stand up, look him in the eye, and shake his—_

A cold wind knocked Steve over and pushed his face in the earth, its icy air sneaking under his iron armor and stinging Steve's exposed skin, making him writhe in pain.

Steve screamed in fear that the hacker was near him and tried to crawl behind a tree desperately, but the powerful wind knocked him over once more, chilling the miner's body. It was such an intense and fridge-like wind that it made Steve feel like his skin was being frozen and then sliced off his body. It hurt him like no other time before.

The Overworld player screamed and wrapped his arms around his body, rolling around in the grass painfully, the cold wind tearing through his skin.

And then it left. Steve panted in pain and whimpered rather loudly, his body shivering in complete shock and frostbite. He tried his best to move his legs, but they felt numb and stick-like. Steve couldn't move. _He's close. Hacker Herobrine is EXTREMELY close. For the love of Notch no..._

Steve's breath quickened and he started hyperventilating. The hacker was extremely close to him and he couldn't move. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even curl his fingers. He was dead. He was sooo dead. There is nothing he can do this time.

_Wait..._ Steve exhaled painfully as he slowly forced his frozen fingers to wrap around his enchanted stick. He could hit him... Maybe once.

Steve's head slammed back down into the grass blocks as he gasped for air, his body failing him. His bones ached, his skin stung, his mouth was dry and parched. He felt lifeless. Steve felt as if he was going to die. He was so, so cold. The hacker must have been just a few blocks away. That wind was unlike anything he's ever experienced before...

"Steveeee."

The miner's pupils shrunk in horror. He tensed his already frozen body on the ground. He couldn't move. Fear washed over him and he whined, flexing his muscles as much as could, rocking his paralyzed body side to side in an attempt to move. He couldn't though. All he could do was whimper pathetically and dart his terrified eyes up and down. He screamed in his mouth, hearing another player's feet swish through the grass behind him as they moved closer.

"What's wrongg? Why are you lying there like a dead cow?" The hacker's voice hissed in the wind. Steve's heart pounded and his purple eyes darted around wildly, his legs twitching repeatedly in pain and efforts to move. The hacker chuckled under his breath madly, sounding extremely close. Player Steve estimated that he was only a block or so behind him.

Steve exhaled loudly in fear as he felt a shoe brush against his leg. He whimpered and stared in front of himself, his eyes small and beady. His heart beat so fast in dread that he thought he would explode.

"What's wrong with you. You're like...dead or something. I guess this makes my job easier and less painful for you, isn't that right Steve?" The hacker chuckled tauntingly from behind him, pressing his foot down onto Steve's leg, making Steve screech in his mouth in fear. "Oh come on Steve, it can't hurt that much..."

The hacker swung his leg up and brought his heavy shoe down onto Steve's leg, making Steve scream in pain, his breaths becoming shorter and panicked. Pain seared throughout his already destroyed body, his vision blurring in hurt and hyperventilation.

The hacker kicked Steve's frozen body brutally a few more times before bending down behind his back to examine the stick the miner held in his hand.

Steve couldn't see him at all, for his head was frozen in front of him, but he felt the hacker's breath hit the back of his head, telling him that he was extremely close to Steve's hand. The Alpha player screamed in his mouth again, his screech muffled by his closed lips, but clearly disturbed nonetheless.

"Oh yeah. This is that piece of shit thing you hit me with. Why don't I take it for you, since you're already holding it out towards me." The hacker grinned, laughing mechanically. "Why don't... I HIT YOU WITH THIS? WHY DON'T I DO EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME EXCEPT MAKE IT TEN TIMES WORSE? THAT'S ALL YOU DESERVE."

Steve screamed and shook his body, flexing his muscles repeatedly, trying as best as he possibly could to move. His body wouldn't though. The cold had numbed his bones and muscles. All of his movement was hindered. Steve was defenseless. Steve was going to die.

_HEROBRINE. HEROBRINE._ Steve shut his eyes and yelled as loud as he could in his head. He then whimpered as loud as he could aloud, his voice high-pitched and pathetic sounding.

"Aren't you cute." Hacker Herobrine teased him, kicking his legs furiously.

Steve's knee popped and he screamed in his mouth, tears collecting in the corners of his bright, violet eyes. His tears stung his skin as they fell. _HEROBRINE._

The hacker stepped on Steve's knee and then grabbed Steve's limp, cold arms, twisting them behind his back. Steve suddenly broke the seal on his mouth, his lips gaining feeling again from his tears that had fallen on them. He screamed as loud as he could, his scream so intense and gurgly sounding that the hacker had to cover his ears for a few seconds.

"For Christ's sake SHUT UP!" Hacker Herobrine furiously yelled, kicking Steve directly in the face. Steve squinted his face in pain as the hot feeling of his blood pouring out of his nose settled in. Steve produced another throaty scream before being silenced by the hacker punching his cheek a few times while pulling his arm upwards and kneeling on his knee.

Steve's eyes drooped in pain and light-headedness. Pain seared throughout his bruised, unmoving body. He was losing consciousness fast. He couldn't continue like this. It hurt too much. It was over for him. _Herobrine.._

And suddenly the hand that was punching his cheek disappeared, as well as the hand that was tugging his arm upwards. The legs that were kneeling on his joints seemed to back away. The hacker got off Steve's body. Steve whimpered in fear and shook weakly, his vision blurring. His purple eyes rolled in a small circle as he did his best to keep himself awake, but he knew he couldn't hold on for much longer.

Steve heard a loud scream come from behind him. Steve's eyes widened. The scream was the hacker's. The miner panted and his eyes froze in shock. _He came. He actually came._

"AHHHHGH!" The hacker shouted weakly, his voice sounding shaky. Steve heard a few, extremely loud thumps sound on the ground behind him, as well as a few terrified noises escape the hacker's throat. Steve's eyes zoomed back and forth in worry and he whimpered softly, wanting to see what was happening behind him so badly.

Suddenly the sound of something being thrown into wood happened, as well as a loud, heavy sounding thump. Steve screamed nervously, his vision blacking.

Lightning sounded from directly behind Steve, making his heart skip a beat. Numerous lightning bolts spiraled out of the night sky and crashed into the hacker's body, the dark oak trees that towered over Steve's body catching fire.

Player Steve freaked out, his short breaths quickening, sending him into an even worse state. His vision only became worse. He couldn't see anything now, only blackness.

Steve heard a few more loud crashes sound from behind him before he was sent into a state of unconsciousness...his purple eyes closing and tears drying upon his white, cold cheeks.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Herobrine's Entrance

Steve slowly opened his crusty eyes, his whole body burning with a fiery pain. He shuddered and slowly turned his achy head to the side, his head pulsing.

_Oh goodness...what happened?_ He thought as his vision slowly recovered from being blurred and he came face to face with a stone wall in front of him. The hurt miner painfully raised his head and looked in front of him, inspecting the unfamiliar place he lay in. He was in a small, underground area. It was a medium sized stone room that had clearly been dug out by a player. There was a wooden door ten blocks away from the bed Steve lay in, presumably the entrance to the dug-out. To the right of the door Steve spotted a crafting table and furnace. He thought he saw an item sitting atop the workbench but he wasn't sure. It was quite dark in the room, for there was only a dim redstone torch placed in the far corner, barely lighting the room at all. It acted more like a nightlight.

The human looked down at his body. Red blankets covered his legs and chest—they were pulled up to the miner's neck. Steve blushed in embarrassment and flopped his head back down into his pillow, pulling the blankets over his head to hide his red face. Herobrine...tucking him into bed? _Oh god..._

Steve laid curled up in a ball in the bed for a few more minutes, not wanting to peek his head out from under the blankets. Herobrine could be right outside the door to this room...

So, Herobrine saved him? When Steve fainted, Herobrine carried him from the grassland to this weird room? Yes, Steve must've been carried by the Nether lord. What happened to the hacker? Did Herobrine kill him? Steve suspected that he did. He didn't know why he wouldn't have.

Steve closed his eyes and pushed his face deeper into the fluffy, white pillow. _So...it worked? He heard my thoughts? He could hear my thoughts from a distance? When I shouted his name in my mind, he could hear it? Or could he just hear my real screams?_

The young miner didn't know for sure, but all that mattered was that Herobrine _did_ in fact come and rescue him. Now the evidence was overwhelming. The demi-god wanted nothing to do with hurting Steve. For Notch's sake, he saved Steve's life!

"Wow..." Steve gaped in awe underneath the blankets. "I was saved by Herobrine...the lord of the monster kingdom...the ruler of the Nether...the Underworld's nightmare..."

_He...touched me. Herobrine touched me_. No player in Minecraft's history had _ever_ been _saved_ by Herobrine—only murdered or imprisoned. Along with that, only around five percent of Minecraftia's population has ever seen him.

Steve smiled. _Now I'm part of that special population. Except, I'm the specialist one of all. I wasn't killed by him. I was saved._

The excited human gave off a fanboy-like squeal and kicked his legs around in the blankets for a few seconds. _Ahhh what do I do! What do I do!?_

_**Remain calm.**_

Steve nodded. That's probably the best thing to do.

_Wait what?_

The confused miner shot his fluffy head out of the blankets and looked around the dark room, puzzled. That voice had not come from Steve, it came from his head. Or, had it? Steve wasn't sure where the voice had come from, whether it was in his conscious or right in front of him, but he knew for sure that the voice wasn't his.

After experiencing this odd event the adventurer got a little nervous. He knew he shouldn't respond to the demon, but he ignored his logic guiltily. He squinted his eyes shut and bit his bottom lip, thinking: _aren't you nosey? You should learn to control yourself better._

_**Apologies, player.**_

Steve gasped. He still couldn't tell if the god's voice was inside his head or not. Wherever it came from, it was crystal clear for Steve's hearing. The shaken human gulped in pure excitement and a little bit of nervousness, replaying Herobrine's voice over and over again in his head. His voice sounded nothing like the hacker's. His voice was much lower and alluring. Intimidating and powerful sounding, yes, but for some reason it didn't really frighten Steve. It just...pulled him into it.

Steve really, REALLY wanted to respond to Herobrine, but now he was too shy to, knowing that the god was listening to his thoughts. The miner slowly rolled back his blankets and ran his hands through his fluffy, messy brown hair, sitting up in the bed. The room was very dark, so he couldn't see what was laying on top of the crafting table, but he knew that something was.

The miner slowly stood up, his legs shaking in pain. Bruises covered his knees and face where the hacker had kicked and punched him. Steve held his breath as he painfully shuffled over to the crafting table, reaching forward to grab the object that was on top of it.

_Oh, Notch's enchanted stick. Herobrine must've taken it back from him._

Steve's iron armor laid in a heap on the stone floor next to the crafting table as well. The Overworld player didn't bother putting it back on. His body was too battered for heavy-duty armor.

Steve slowly turned his head towards the wooden door and whimpered weakly. What if Herobrine was standing outside it?

_You're so confusing Steve! One moment you want everything to do with him and then not even one second later you want to run away from him and hide! Just go outside this room and calm down! He saved your life!_

Steve sighed and slowly trudged towards the door, swallowing nervously as he approached it. He gently pushed on the wooden door, creaking it open very cautiously. Steve was greeted with a dark cave in front of him and a few dim, redstone torches scattered on the ground outside the door. The adventurer looked at them hesitantly, his legs aching as he emerged from his room, standing a block away from the door.

The cave system looked unfamiliar to Steve. It didn't look like the one located in his ravine. This cave system had hot, humid air and a large ceiling. It kind of looked like an underground ravine but not quite. It was very large and located deep underground.

Steve looked to his left, seeing a large lava fall coming out of the side of the cave wall, making a large pool on the cave's floor. It was clear that the lava was responsible for the hot air in the cave system. Steve panted a bit, but mostly enjoyed the warmth. It comforted his injured joints.

He gave off an embarrassing squeak went he crouched down to pick up the redstone torches outside his room. His legs shook and his knee failed him, causing him to awkwardly fall on his side and lay sideways on the cold, stone ground. Steve blushed in embarrassment and did his best to get himself back on his feet as quickly as he could.

He panted and clutched the few redstone torches he had grabbed to his chest. His restless eyes scanned the ground as a sharp pain flowed through his body. Steve really needed some healing potions to fix his right knee and...both legs in general. He could barely walk. He can't be on a World like this in such a disabled state.

Steve breathed heavily as he raised his head, looking towards the lava fall with tired eyes.

Steve wasn't expecting another pair of eyes to look back at him.

The younger miner grew stiff as his eyes connected with another's. In the lava pool, a player sat, the lava up to his armpits. His large arms were sprawled out on the stone he leaned back against. He had extremely bright, glowing eyes. His eyes were pure white.

Steve almost fell over but kept his rigid stance. Herobrine's eyes never disconnected with his. They didn't blink once. Steve's breath quickened and stared at Herobrine insanely, not knowing what to do. He couldn't even see Herobrine very well because the lava pool was a ways away from him...but it was clear that Herobrine was staring directly at him.

Steve's face caught fire when he realized that he was still clutching the bundle of Herobrine's redstone torches in his arms. _Oh my god. Kill me now. Kill me now..._

Herobrine continued to stare at the adventurer, his posture never changing and eyes never blinking. Steve screamed internally.

Suddenly Steve started shuffling towards the lava pool where Herobrine sat in impulsively, his brain completely ignoring the pain in his bones. The younger miner's mouth was wide open, his arms still locked around the Underworld god's redstone torches. Steve walked quickly, dragging his bad leg behind his other slightly as he uncontrollably shuffled towards the lava.

The adventurer didn't know what took over him, but he wanted to _see_ Herobrine. He wanted to get closer to him. Suddenly all of his fear was gone and replaced by curiosity and desperation. _No, no, no. Don't you dare teleport away. I swear to god..._

Herobrine didn't move a muscle. He kept so still that Steve almost thought he wasn't real.

The younger miner started panting as he grew closer and closer to the god, beginning to see some of his features. Steve whimpered a little as his knee popped but kept furiously walking...right up until he stood on the stone blocks across from the god in the lava pool.

The human panted heavily as he came to a sudden stop, slowly bending over to place his redstone torches on the cave floor. He raised his sweaty head and desperately looked at the Nether lord, scanning his face and upper body. _Is...is he real? He can't be..._

"Are you...real?" Steve asked shakily, inhaling air painfully as his legs pulsed. Herobrine sat so still, his arms still resting on the stone blocks to his sides, not ever moving. His eyes look as if they were frozen in time. The way he never fidgeted or shifted made him look like a hologram. Steve started to think that he was hallucinating or that this was just a picture of Herobrine sitting in the lava pool.

"Um..." Steve hummed softly, unknowing what to say. He could finally see the god's facial features. He looked a lot like the Herobrine Steve saw in the News. Exactly like him. Except he was a little more...attractive and terrifying in real life. Steve gazed at him in awe and shyness.

He had tan skin. It was slightly tanner than Steve's. He had darker colored eyebrows and a bigger body. His arms were huge. He looked strong. _Very_ strong. Steve freaked out when he spotted small droplets of sweat on the god's forehead, as well as some dark, coal smudges on the sides of his face. _Yep. This is definitely not a hologram or a fake. He is real._

"I...uh.." Steve muttered awkwardly, feeling like he was talking to himself. The god still wasn't budging. The human suddenly had a really wicked idea and grabbed one of Herobrine's torches, throwing it directly at him.

The torch bounced off of Herobrine's upper chest, burning in the lava in front of him. Steve stared at the demon and held his breath in suspense. Herobrine furrowed his dark eyebrows and glanced down at the lava in front of him, the corners of his mouth downturning. Steve stared at him as his mouth moved, watching his facial expressions in curiosity. _That was really mean but at least it got my point across._ _He needed to stop staring and start engaging._

The god slowly raised his head and looked back up at Steve. The human couldn't tell if he was angry, disappointed, or confused. Herobrine's expression was extremely hard to read. It was also really... Steve blushed.

"Y-You look cool." Steve stammered and nipped his lip. And then a second later Steve clutched his face in embarrassment, not realizing he had said something so stupid. _What the hell does "you look cool" mean?! You're so stupid! Stop making a fool out of yourself!_

"Steven."

Steve's eyes widened in his hand as he heard Herobrine's voice for the first time in his life.

"Why throw a torch at me?"

Steve shivered and closed his eyes tight. The god's voice was low and oddly louder than a typical player's. It was also really...soothing. Or, maybe that was just Steve who thought that.

"I don't know... you weren't moving." Steve mumbled back, a flustered wreck.

"I did not want to scare you, Steve."

The younger miner uncontrollably shivered again at Herobrine's voice. His voice was just so amazing. Steve loved it. All his life he's wanted to hear it. It sounded way better in real life than in the miner's dreams. "Well...well..." he trailed off aimlessly.

"Why aren't you running away?" Herobrine questioned immediately, his piercing white eyes locked with Steve's.

Steve stared back into them hazily, feeling hypnotized by their glow. "I...don't know.."

Silence fell between them for a few moments. Steve wanted so badly to break their small talk and terse questions but he was too shy to speak his mind to Herobrine. The way the god stared him down made him feel self-conscious.

Steve licked his lips and slowly laid his leg down to the side, sitting down on the cold, stone floor in an injured looking position. He finally broke the silence by stating, "you saved me, Herobrine."

The god tipped his head ever so slightly. "It's not the first time, Steve."

His deep voice rang throughout the miner's ears and Steve nodded, panting. "I know...but still...you saved my life. That means a lot to me. I...don't want to run away from you. I want to thank you."

Herobrine didn't respond, leaving Steve feeling embarrassed. The Overworld player moved his leg to the side a little more and gasped under his breath in discomfort. Herobrine seemed to notice for Steve saw him shift his piercing gaze over to his leg for a second. The god's face was expressionless. His eyebrows never moved. His mouth was always a straight line that was slightly downturned. Steve found it sad how emotionless the Underworld god was.

"So...what happened to the hacker?" Steve asked softly, looking at Herobrine's face hesitantly.

The god finally moved. He brought his arms down from their resting position on the stone and looked down at the lava, fully submerging his body in the pool for a few, long seconds. Steve's watched him do so in fascination.

When Herobrine surfaced again, he wiped the coal smudges off the side of his face and waded closer to Steve, keeping his luminous eyes focused on the lava in front of him. The younger miner watched him move closer in nervousness, leaning back a little bit in his sitting position. The lava lapped at Herobrine's hips as he moved closer, bubbling on his shirt. His shirt was a slightly darker teal color than Steve's due to the coal stains, ancient ruffles, old cuts in it. It wasn't necessarily ragged or dirty, just more worn.

Herobrine stopped moving when he got to be a few feet away from Steve. Steve stared into his face curiously but also shyly. He could finally see Herobrine up close. He could finally see the god's tan skin and dark brown hair. He could finally see Herobrine's mouth and toned arms. Steve took all of it in as much as he could. He was overwhelmed by the god being right in front of him. Herobrine looked nothing like the hacker Herobrine. Steve couldn't believe that he actually thought that the hacker _was_ Herobrine at first. The real Herobrine was sooo much different. He was bigger, stronger, and more well-kept, surprisingly. He was wayyy more pleasant looking, really.

"Steven, look." The god spoke, holding up an object in his hand. Steve shyly leaned forward to look at what he was holding. "This is a sword he dropped."

Steve gazed at the enchanted diamond sword, chewing the inside of his cheek in disturbance.

"It is named 'Heart.'" Herobrine told Steve softly, pulling his gaze away from the sword to settle it back on Steve. The younger miner lost his train of thought as soon as Herobrine started looking at him again and his vibrant purple eyes looked back into Herobrine's white ones uncontrollably. Steve was noticeably attracted to the god's eyes.

"D-Does that have meaning? Do you know what it means?" Steve mumbled quietly, biting his lower lip nervously.

The god examined Steve's settle movements for a few seconds before replying in a grave tone, "I am worried it has something to do with you."

"Heart? I...I don't understand how that—"

Steve immediately stopped talking when Herobrine pulled out a stick and pushed into the middle of Steve's chest, making the Overworld player sway a little in his sitting position.

"Heart." The god said tersely and then pulled the stick away from Steve slowly. For some reason Steve suddenly got chills and raced his eyes around on the ground.

_Heart? For my heart? Is Herobrine showing me that the sword was made to kill me? To take out my actual heart? Oh god..._

"Steven, you're not safe here." Herobrine said, giving Steve a stern look.

Steve laughed a little bit in paranoia. "Yeah, I figured that out a while ago."

"Leave."

The god's voice was low and dark, ringing throughout Steve's ears. The human's eyebrows drooped and gave Herobrine a pathetic look. "I..."

Herobrine continued giving Steve that same old emotionless look. Except, Steve swore he saw the Nether lord's eyes glow at a brighter intensity for a few seconds. _Is he doing that on purpose? Can he control the glowing in his eyes? Is he making his eyes flash to try to scare me away or obey him or something?_

"No. I cannot directly control the brightness of my eyes. They tend to be brighter when I am stressed, angry, or feeling anything along the lines of frustrated. They barely glow at all when I am calm, relaxed, or happy." Herobrine replied in response to Steve's thoughts.

Steve listened intently but also gave him a little glare. "Don't read my mind!"

"Maybe I wouldn't if you didn't think so loud." The god responded, still giving Steve an unreadable look.

Steve huffed and broke their mini stare-contest, looking into the lava with a pouty face. Herobrine found Steve's childish facial expression hilarious. Steve missed Herobrine's wide smile.

Before Herobrine could move away from Steve's hand, the human swiped his hand a few inches from Herobrine's lower chest, as if batting him away. The god almost laughed but contained his amusement.

"What has caught your attention, Steve?"

Steve batted the air by Herobrine again, playing with his wispy particle effects. "You have little smokey things coming from you...can you control these too?" The human mumbled curiously, eyeing the cold wisps radiating from Herobrine's body.

"No, not really." The god responded, glancing down at his chest to look at the tiny particles flowing off of his body.

"Can I..." Steve started but trailed off, looking up at the demon's dark, attractive face. Steve, again, immediately shut his mouth as soon as Herobrine's eyes found his.

"Yes?"

Herobrine noticed the adventurer looking at his hand. The way Steve longingly looked at it made Herobrine push away his inner thoughts and slowly lift it out of the lava towards him. Steve parted his lips and gazed at him, as if waiting for approval. Herobrine didn't say anything to him. He only watched him with calm eyes.

Player Steve had been wanting to do this embarrassing thing ever since he laid eyes on Herobrine. But, should it really be embarrassing? There's nothing wrong with being curious, right? Notch told him that Herobrine had a cold body temperature, the coldest of all creatures in Minecraftia. Steve has felt his cold drafts surround him, but he has never touched him yet. Even when Herobrine was just now explaining to him what he thought "Heart" meant on the sword, he touched Steve with a stick, as if purposefully trying to socially distance himself from the Overworld player. Steve wanted to know why.

It was embarrassing for Steve to slowly raise his arm towards Herobrine's, but it didn't seem like the god cared. Of course, Steve would never know even if he did. His face was always expressionless.

Steve parted his lips as if he was being precise about putting his hand against Herobrine's. And when he finally did, he gasped not even a second into the feeling and quickly drew his hand away, pulling it to his chest instinctively. His purple eyes darted around in shock, his chest heaving a bit as he panted. _That felt...amazing._

Herobrine looked away from Steve and Steve noticed him do so. The demi-god spoke, "You must leave now. You will end up getting hurt even more than you already are if you continue to roam around on this World."

Steve squinted at Herobrine. _Avoiding the feeling you just felt? Trying to change the subject so fast like that just to avoid talking about your feelings? I know you felt it too. You must've enjoyed the feeling of gently touching another player even more than me. You've never really gotten to._

Herobrine's eyes glowed brighter as he stared at Steve and the younger miner returned his attitude with a small glare.

"Steven, I am being serious." He almost growled, his low voice filling Steve's ears.

"Well, I am being _serious_ too, mister serious." Steve sneered back.

The adventurer swore he saw the corners of Herobrine's mouth rise into a small smirk, but when he blinked the mysterious smile was gone. "If you continue to argue with me about **keeping you alive** then I may as well force you to leave myself."

"But won't you be lonely when I'm gone? If I leave, you'll be all alonee..." Steve slurred, giving Herobrine an innocent but mean smile.

"Cruel joke, Steve."

Steve smiled passive-aggressively and the demon sighed. "You really are the worst."

"Says you!"

Herobrine chuckled darkly and moved closer to Steve in the lava, right up until he was only a few inches away from the human. Steve smiled a little bit but also leaned back in fright.

Even though Steve was sitting on the stone outside of the pool, it still felt like Herobrine was towering over him. For the first time, expression was written all over the god's face. His eyebrows were slanted downwards and his lips smiled mischievously, his eyes practically blinding Steve.

"Be careful who you poke, Steve."

There was clearly something wrong with Steve. Instead of feeling scared, Steve's face turned beat-red and he started panting in embarrassment.

Herobrine watched the red color wash over Steve's face and he studied it for a few seconds in curiosity. Steve noticed Herobrine's eyes traveling around his face and an embarrassed puff escaped his lips, his face only getting redder. _Stop it Steve what is wrong with you?! Just act normal!_

"Tired? Rest. I will make healing potions for your leg. They will be ready when you wake up." Herobrine told him, not budging from his current stance, still leaning over Steve slightly.

The Overworld player nodded quickly and gulped, closing his eyes. Maybe sleeping some more was a good idea. He could clear his head.

Not that he needed to...

"Steve, stay where you are." The god ordered him in a dominant voice, suddenly heaving himself out of the lava and onto the cave floor next to Steve. The younger miner watched him in amazement as he dusted lava specks off of his large arms and legs. He was _huge_.

Steve felt like a little speck compared to the god, even though that wasn't entirely true. The Underworld god looked so intimidating with his luminous eyes and muscular body. Steve cowered on the ground, rolling over onto his back in nervousness as Herobrine stood over him.

Steve breathed heavily as he watched Herobrine lean down and slowly wrap a warm arm around Steve's back and another under his legs. Herobrine picked him up effortlessly, holding him like a baby close to his chest. The demi-god's shirt felt warm because of the lava, but Steve could feel his cold body temperature slowly taking over the external heat. The Overworld player had never been picked up before. Never. He actually enjoyed the feeling...but it was quite embarrassing...especially since his picker-upper was the one and only Herobrine.

The god teleported them, leaving Steve in a dazzled state. When his eyes finally adjusted again, he realized that Herobrine had teleported Steve to _his_ room...the small enclosed bedroom he had in his ravine. Steve looked up at the god in happiness, his lips still parted in awe about the whole situation he was in.

The god tilted his head and met Steve's eyes, making the human start breathing heavier instantly. "This alright?"

Steve nodded shyly.

Herobrine slowly walked over to Steve's bedside, his heavy footsteps filling the small room's walls. He slowly bent over, setting Steve down onto his red bed smoothly. The younger miner didn't want to leave the god's arms for he had never been carried like that before, but accepted the fact that Herobrine was only dropping him off, not staying with him.

After Herobrine set Steve down, he broke all of Steve's torches in the room, making the room pitch black. All Steve could see was the faint glow of Herobrine's eyes at first but then the god placed a redstone torch against the wall, giving the room a dim light. Steve watched him start to move around the small enclosed stone room, replacing all of the floor, ceiling, and walls with obsidian. Steve couldn't help but get butterflies in his stomach as Herobrine did this. _No one has ever cared for me this much without me asking for them to. He just does. He just protects me without me having to ask._

Once Herobrine finished, Steve lay on his bed in a small room of obsidian. The younger miner gazed at Herobrine through the darkness of his small room, his pupils large and droopy. He felt safe. For the first time on this World, Steve felt safe.

"I will come back when you wake, Steve. Of course, that is only if you'd like me to. Sleep well, player." Herobrine spoke, his deep voice quite soothing to Steve. The Overworld player nodded a little, his eyelids already closing in comfort.

Herobrine inspected Steve's relaxed face for a few seconds before teleporting away, leaving him to rest peacefully...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Shenanigans with the Underworld God

The Overworld player's bright, beautiful purple eyes slowly blinked open, a loud yawn escaping his throat. He had rested well, his dreams warm and comforting. His body was still very sore but for the most part relaxed.

Steve looked around his dark, obsidian bedroom with lazy eyes, smiling. He still couldn't believe that he had talked to Herobrine...let alone see him. He had actually talked to him. He had touched his hand...and then Herobrine picked him up!

Steve squeaked in his pillow, gripping his blankets in joy. _Wow... What else will we do together? Will...will he stick around for some time? Will we get to know each other better? Will we eat together and build together sometime? Oh...will we actually become friends?_

The human knew that he was WAY too excited about finally getting to talk to the real Herobrine, but he just couldn't help fantasizing about their relationship and how it could grow.

_What did Herobrine think about seeing me? Was he nervous? Was he disappointed? Did he expect something more from me? Did...did he feel happy that he finally got to talk to me? He's been watching over me all my life...especially when I first spawned in...but he has never presented himself to me until now. That must have felt good for him, right?_

The human's glassy, purple eyes scanned the protective obsidian room he lay in. It was nice and dark, only a dim redstone torch softly glowing in the corner. Steve felt happy and relaxed, not stressed in the slightest...although he still needed to ask what exactly went down between Herobrine and the hacker. He suspected that Herobrine killed him, but he didn't really know anything else about the event. The fact that the hacker could still be lurking around on the World made Steve feel very uncomfortable. _But, why would Herobrine allow him to stay here any longer? Herobrine hates hackers. He must have erased his access to this World. He must have..._

Steve cleared his thoughts, focusing on the good instead of the bad. For one, Herobrine didn't kill him and now he's actually taking care of Steve.

_Herobrine?_

The miner remembered that Herobrine told him to say when he was awake. Steve had no clue how this was going to work considering Herobrine was probably a million blocks away and had no clue what Steve was doing. The younger miner sighed and pulled his red blankets above his nose, sniffing them adorably in comfort.

Suddenly an extremely loud teleportation sound came from seemingly nowhere and Steve screamed, flinging his blankets off of his body and twisting his already broken leg. A large, cold hand wrapped around Steve's torso and he yelped in surprise as purple swirls took over his vision, causing him to black out for a moment. Herobrine grit his teeth inside his mouth, watching Steve's head fall back and go limp for a second as he teleported them to the room he had prepared for his counterpart in the cave system.

After a few seconds Steve regained consciousness, his head pulsing and leg on fire. The god slowly laid the human's weak body down on the bed in his stone room, biting his cheek nervously. He didn't know exactly how to respond to the situation or the current state Steve was in. The god could sense his pain, but didn't know how to approach it. Perhaps he entered Steve's room too abruptly and teleported him away too quickly. He must have given the human a heart attack.

Steve groaned in pain, starting to sweat as an uncomfortable heatwave spread through his body. Herobrine became nervous as he watched Steve's face grow pale and lips turn purple, the younger miner's eyelids shutting.

The god quickly walked out of the dim room, pacing around the separate stone room next to Steve's that he had placed his brewing stand in. After only a few seconds of frantically running around the room, the demigod found the healing potions he had made for Steve and clutched them to his chest, bolting out of the room with his eyes blazing.

Steve's ears rang and he didn't have the strength to open his eyes, for his head felt like it was going to explode. He could hear a few echoey footsteps, but they were very distorted in his head.

Herobrine's heavy feet seemed to crack the stone beneath him as he rushed to Steve's bedside, his luminous eyes burning intensely. The god didn't want Steve to die. That was all he wanted. The thought of Steve dying made him freak out for a reason he was terrible at explaining.

The god cautiously placed a hand underneath Steve's chin, squinting at the feeling of touching the adventurer's hot skin. He pulled Steve's jaw down while keeping his head tipped upwards, earning a small noise from the human. He wasted no time in shoving the healing potion in his mouth, filling it with the sour concoction. Steve flinched and gurgled a bit but after a few seconds his muscles relaxed again and he started swallowing the liquid instinctively, still only half-conscious.

When Steve started to gulp down the medicine, Herobrine watched his face slowly return to its natural color. Steve's cheeks flushed and his lips turned red, his tan skin fading through the pale color on his face. The god had never been so close to Steve, and it had been years since he's even seen him. But now, upon seeing Steve once more, Herobrine's chest filled with joy. He didn't realize how much he missed watching over Steve until now. He wanted to follow him around once more. He wanted to watch him overcome difficult tasks in the Overworld, just like how he used to. The Underworld god had been bored sitting in his Nether kingdom, building random structures, and killing anonymous players who happened to stumble across them. That was the main reason why he even came up to the Overworld in the first place. He wanted to mine to take his thoughts and attention elsewhere.

Of course, Steve couldn't know this.

Steve flickered his eyes open for a split second but quickly shut them, cringing at the taste of the acidic potion inside his mouth. Herobrine stared at Steve as the human squinted his eyes close. _How does he do that? Did he spawn like that? _

With the Overworld player's eyes closed, Steve's eyelashes caught the god's attention, oddly enough. They were thick and dark brown, curling upwards naturally on their own.

_As if his eyes could not get any more beautiful...they might have just did. Incredible._

The hand the god had underneath Steve's chin started pushing so he quickly drew it away, shaking it in the air a bit before taking out a healing splash potion and throwing it onto Steve's leg, making the human flinch once more and cry out in surprise.

_You cannot touch him. You cannot make any contact with him. Keep your distance. If you do not follow these simple rules you have known all your pitiful life, disaster will strike. You cannot touch anybody. You cannot let him touch you anymore._

Herobrine glared at himself and cursed up a storm inside his head, his eyes burning furiously. _Cursed devil. Piss on a wither, universe. Have fun making me look like even more of a lonely fool for blessing me with a human who does not want to kill me for sport, but wants to get to know me better as a Being. Have fun watching __**me**_ _watch __**your**_ _creation blossom into a strong warrior, leaving me behind in the dust only because __**I told him to**__. Piece of — thank you for making my miserable life even more hellish than it already is. I cannot have a single friend. I cannot do __**anything**_ _you —_

"Herobrine?"

Steve's soft voice broke through the god's thoughts, making Herobrine whip his head to the side to stare at the human, clearly distraught.

Steve had opened his eyes a little while ago after the splash potion had been thrown on his leg. He felt much better, almost perfect. When he had opened his eyes, Herobrine was staring at the wall with his lips curled back in a disgusted way, his face scrunched up in anger. Steve didn't know what to do at the time so he just watched the god stand there, his eyes practically burning holes through the stone wall. He had looked terribly angry. It scared Steve. He hoped it wasn't something he did.

Herobrine prayed to god that Steve hadn't seen his face when he was arguing with himself and...others...inside his head. But by the way Steve was looking at him, it was clear that he had.

Herobrine regained his posture and sighed, asking, "are you feeling alright?"

Steve only stared at him in response. _Notch was right. He is mysterious. He has so much conflict inside him. That's why it's almost impossible to know what he's feeling. He probably doesn't even know what he's feeling._

The god gave Steve a mini glare, not able to muster up the courage to give him one of his normal glares. Steve was just too...sweet and feeble for his impatience.

Steve saw Herobrine's glare and threw the blankets over his head, embarrassed.

"Are you feeling better?"

The adventurer replied through the blanket tersely, "Yah..."

"Nightfall will be here soon, Steven. I recommend you get out of bed and do something to make yourself tired so you can fall asleep tonight." The god spoke in a low tone, sighing as he plopped himself down at the end of Steve's bed, the whole thing creaking underneath his weight.

"You can't force me to...you're not my dad..." Steve mumbled jokingly through the blankets.

Herobrine did his very best to hold back a grin. "No, I am in your nightmares."

"You're not in my nightmares, Herobrine." Steve said softly. "You're in my dreams."

Herobrine cursed mentally.

The Overworld adventurer was glad he kept the blankets over his head. The silence that followed after his response made him feel a little embarrassed for saying what he did. _But it'd be worse if I didn't tell him the truth, right? I'm not scared of him, not in the way he thinks I am. He should know that..._

"That is certainly...interesting...Steve." The Nether lord responded questionably.

Steve grumbled and rolled over in the bed, laying on his chest and pushing his face into the pillow. He wanted to talk to Herobrine but he didn't know how. Everything that comes out of his mouth just embarrasses him more.

"Steven." The demon stated the adventurer's name.

"What?"

"Get out of bed."

Steve blushed and hollered, "I don't want to! I'm comfortable and perfectly happy right here!"

Herobrine wrapped his arms around the younger miner's body, scooping him up, along with the blankets. A small huff escaped Steve's lips in surprise as the demigod pulled him onto his lap, turning Steve sideways so he could carry him in bridal style. Herobrine completely ignored his conscience. He pushed away all logic surrounding the situation. He rose to his feet, carrying Steve who was still wrapped in his blankets out the door. _I am not touching him. I am making no physical contact with Steven. This is fine._

"W-What are you d-doing?" Steve stammered, a nervous wreck.

"Getting you out of bed." The god responded sternly, although his response made Steve giggle happily. Herobrine tipped his head downwards and inspected the human's joyful expression as he walked.

"I still feel like I'm in bed! I'm still wrapped in a blanket and I'm not moving." Steve responded, flashing a cute smile at the god.

"Oh really?" Herobrine's voice slurred mischievously. Steve nodded, now feeling a bit timid at Herobrine's dark voice change. He really enjoyed hearing the god's voice though. It was alluring.

The god came to a sudden halt, raising Steve closer to his handsome face. The human gazed at him wide-eyed as he whispered mysteriously, "I'm sure this'll wake you up."

Before Steve could part his lips, Herobrine dropped him, making Steve scream in terror as his body started to free-fall. Steve's scream was soon silenced though as his back plunged into cold water, his body stinking downwards. Steve's adrenaline spiked and he kicked his legs as hard as he could, zooming to the surface blindly.

When Steve surfaced he gasped, coughing a bit and spitting out the water that he had accidentally inhaled. His purple eyes raced in confusion and nervousness, his legs propelling him through the water until he reached the stone on the side of the dark, cave pool.

Herobrine watched over Steve in triumph. "Now that you are awake, you join me in the lava pool to help heal your joints."

"W-What was that for?" Steve stuttered weakly, shivering as cold water droplets rained down on the stone blocks beneath him. He hugged his arms in towards his body in discomfort at how cold he suddenly was.

"Just a little bit of a lesson, Steve." Herobrine smirked, causing the human to gulp at the sudden expression on the god's face. "Come now."

The younger miner whimpered and quickly shuffled over to Herobrine's side, soaking wet and a little startled. Herobrine hid his amused smile and walked them over to the large lava pool where he first met Steve in. He slowly sat down on the edge of the pool side, sticking his legs into the fiery liquid. The Underworld god sighed in satisfaction as the lava warmed his cold skin, immediately comforting and relaxing him.

"Drink this fire resistance potion so you will not be harmed by the lava." Herobrine told Steve and held out an orange potion bottle. Steve shakily bent down and took it out of Herobrine's grasp, shivering. Seeing Steve so cold made the god bite his inner cheek in regret for throwing him into the water.

Steve swallowed it quickly, grunting in disgust. After he had finished drinking it, he slowly shuffled closer to the pool and looked down at the lava with big eyes. He looked terrified. Steve's biggest fear was lava.

"H-Herobrine I... I don't think I can do this..." Steve shivered, giving Herobrine a pathetic look.

"Let me help?"

Steve swallowed and crossed his arms tighter to his chest. "Um...um..."

The god took a few strides over to Steve until he was able to reach out and touch him. Steve crouched down and looked at Herobrine nervously, his body still soaking wet and shivering. The god put both of his large hands underneath Steve's armpits, the younger miner gasping at the contact. Herobrine discretely clenched his teeth. Steve's skin was so hot. The god grew mad at himself for touching the Overworld player once more.

Steve was a little flustered about the whole situation but at the same time he needed it very badly. He didn't realize how much he trusted Herobrine. As soon as the god lifted him up, Steve's hands reached out frantically, trying to find the demon's shoulders. He wanted to be close to him. He felt safer when he was close to him.

"O-Oh god..." Steve murmured nervously as Herobrine slowly lowered him into the lava, the warm liquid rising up to his torso. Steve bit his lip in fear as he was almost fully submerged in the pool, his fingers digging into Herobrine's arms frantically.

The demigod eyed Steve's face the entire time while lowering him into the lava. The human trusted him. Herobrine couldn't believe him. The way Steve held onto Herobrine's arms so desperately made it clear that he wanted to be close to him. Who would have thought that Steve would trust him this easily? They only met a while ago. No player has ever acted so...different around Herobrine.

The younger miner loosened his grip on Herobrine's arms and started to relax as the cold water evaporated from clothes and skin, making his body temperature steadily rise once again. He panted and swallowed nervously, softly asking the god, "Will it hurt me soon? Do I have to get out now?"

"No. Not for awhile." Herobrine replied, the glow in his eyes dying down as Steve's fingers held onto his muscular arms fearfully. The Nether lord knew that he should be pushing Steve's hand away from him, but it has been years since another player had touched him. Herobrine had forgotten what it felt like to have another player put their hand on his skin. It seemed to fill him with life once more.

"Herobrine?" Steve said the god's name softly. Herobrine stared at him as soon as he said his name. He kept his face deadpan, not showing any emotion whatsoever. Steve tugged on Herobrine's arm a little bit in the lava, giving the god a look he couldn't read. "Why does it feel so...weird when I touch you?"

Herobrine continued staring at Steve, not blinking once. Steve cowered a bit under his intense gaze, fearing that he had asked a question that Herobrine didn't like.

Fortunately, the god opened his mouth and calmly replied, "It is because you and I are complete opposites, Steve. I am cold and dead. You are warm and alive. I rule the Underworld and you rule the Overworld with that friend of yours...Alex, I believe she is."

"But you are alive, Herobrine. You are standing right here in front of me." Steve responded, tipping his head in confusion.

"Yes, but not really. My soul is dead while my body is alive. My body must be cold to control the supernatural burning in my eyes." Herobrine said, feeling Steve poke at his arm as he spoke.

Steve frowned and stopped poking Herobrine's arm when he finished. "No...your soul is alive. You are an alive Being. You might have special, unnatural abilities, but those things just make you even more alive."

Herobrine pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Why don't you agree with me, Steve? Why must you challenge my words?"

"I'm not challenging you. I'm telling you the truth. I won't agree with something I don't believe in... I don't want to be a faker around you. I don't want to lie to you or keep my feelings and opinions a secret, Herobrine."

The god closed his eyes again, zoning out in Steve's words. Oh, how nice they were. Herobrine had not heard such nice words spoken to him in a decade. Steve must be a fallen angel. Why hadn't he tried to talk to him earlier? He shouldn't have been so nervous about approaching the player in Alpha. Steve has always been the gentlest and most intelligent of players.

Steve watched Herobrine shut his eyes and he smiled. He reckoned the god liked what he had said. It made Steve happy to see the god finally look somewhat comfortable around him in conversation. Of course, the human still couldn't read any of the demon's emotions because his face was so expressionless, but Steve could tell that he was relaxed. Herobrine deserved to be told nice things. All Steve's life players have referred to him as being "a monster," "a heartless murderer," or "a nightmare." Those names really are terrible. Steve guessed that name calling like that has really torn Herobrine up inside. Who could blame him? His death in Alpha wasn't even his fault.

The adventurer gently pressed his palm into the older miner's arm, eyes widening at the feeling that resulted from their skin coming into contact. It felt like Steve's hand had melted into Herobrine's arm. It felt like fire and ice. The simple touch had left his hand warm and melty feeling. It was hypnotizing. It was unlike anything Steve had ever experienced before in Minecraftia.

Steve quickly snook a peak at Herobrine's face. The god was looking down at Steve's hand on his arm with half-closed eyes. He almost looked sad. His face was quite solemn looking. The human gently pushed his hand into Herobrine's arm again, the fire and ice effect taking place once more.

"You should not do that, Steve. You should know this." Herobrine spoke quietly in a dark tone, still gazing down at their arms with half-closed eyes.

Steve looked at Herobrine and replied, "you can't say that to me if you are looking down at my hand like that."

Herobrine didn't respond. Steve gulped and cautiously moved closer to the god in the lava, dropping his right arm in the lava and picking up his left. The god wasn't even trying to fight it. His arms were limp. He seemed as if he was in a trance. It made Steve feel a little sad.

"Why, Steve."

Steve clutched his arm and looked up at him worryingly. "Why what?"

"Why don't you run away from me?"

Steve's eyes raced around Herobrine's face a bit before he started stammering, "Umm...I d-don't—"

"Why don't you try to kill me? Why don't you try to claim my head as your trophy to feed your fame and greed? Why don't you call me dehumanizing words? Why don't you scream every time you see me?"

Steve quickly replied, "Well, why didn't you kill me? Why didn't you hurt me? Why did you save me?"

Herobrine raised his head slightly and locked eyes with Steve, not responding. Steve returned his look and murmured, "see? We're stereotyping each other. I don't want to do that any longer. I don't want to make assumptions about you, Herobrine. I've been making them all my life like every other stupid person. But now I see that you're so much more complex in real life. I have no right to judge or assume something about you. That's not right."

"For the sake of..." Herobrine sighed and trailed off, shaking his head side to side in dismay.

"W-What's so wrong with that?" Steve stammered defensively, giving the god a disappointed look.

"Nothing is wrong with that, Steve..." the god murmured through his hands in which he started to rub his forehead with.

"Then I—"

_**Why are you so perfect?**_

Steve blushed furiously at Herobrine's mental message and pinched the god's arm. "Y-You just haven't been around the right players! I am not perfect! I-I am just being a nice, considerate person like how everyone should be!"

Herobrine chuckled darkly in his hand. "Well, you got that right, Steven. I have _NOT_ been around the right players."

Steve nodded, nipping his lip.

"But you. You are a "right" player."

"Well I—!"

"You are special, Steve. You must know that," Herobrine interrupted.

"N-No I'm not! I'm normal and just like everyone—"

"Nonsense, Steve. You are much different than the rest of the players who inhabit this universe."

Steve huffed and stammered, "W-Well! You're special too then!"

Herobrine chuckled in amusement, giving Steve a playful smirk. "Better hush now Steve before I blush."

Steve gave the god a hard nudge, only intensifying Herobrine's laughter. "S-Stop it I'm being serious! I hope you are too!..."

"My replies are all very serious, Steve. Don't you remember? I'm 'Mr. Serious.'" Herobrine responded in a sarcastic voice, giving Steve an attractive grin.

"W-What has gotten into you?! One moment you act as if you're incapable of producing a smile and...n-now look at you! Playful as a filly!" Steve cried, his face on fire.

Herobrine snorted and chuckled, "Filly? I can assure you that I am no..._filly_, Steve. Baby horses are weak and clumsy, tripping over their own feet. They are barely able to tell their right from their left."

"T-Then what are you!" Steve hollered shyly, pulling at the demigod's arm.

"Much, _much_ worse." Herobrine replied, giving Steve an evil looking smile.

Steve blushed, secretly adoring the expressions he had managed to get out of the god. "Will I ever see this...part of you?"

Herobrine hummed, his low voice sending chills throughout the younger miner's body. Steve held onto his arm with a happy expression on his face, waiting for the god's response eagerly. Herobrine studied the human's terribly innocent looking face before slowly telling him, "Perhaps in time... I am not the type to release my wrath on a joyful, pristine player such as yourself."

Steve giggled and said, "Alright. I'm not so sure I want your 'wrath' anyway."

Herobrine gazed at Steve's cheerful face for a few moments, seeing how unbelievably sweet and light-hearted the human really was. _He must have a hard time killing animals. He must have a hard time watching players fight. He must feel uncomfortable around anything mean-spirited or dark. But, if this is true then why is he holding onto my arm like that? Why is he attracted to me, the ruler of the Underworld? The most infamous cold-blooded torturer and murderer in Minecraft's history? There must be a side of him that he is deliberately hiding from me. Steve is more secretive than he appears to be. I must find out what he is hiding from me. He could be hiding so many emotions behind that perfect smile of his. He could be hiding a dark desire behind a laugh. I know how it is._

"Why don't we get out of the lava soon and eat? You need some meat to replenish your lost blood and overall soreness." The god suggested, Steve nodding quickly with no second thoughts at the demon's offer.

"I would really enjoy that.. I haven't been eating the best lately... All I've eaten for the past couple days is raw meat and cookies." Steve told Herobrine shyly and laughed under his breath.

The god chuckled and mumbled, "I am sure this dinner of ours is needed then."

Steve's face grew hot and he gave the god a small smile, lost in the thought of the Nether lord preparing a meal for him.

_He is so kind to me. Sure he has his moments, but...he is gentle. Herobrine acts nothing like how he acts around other players with me. I truly am...special._


End file.
